WABC-TV in New York City says that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey decided it did not need to pay the cost of fireproofing structural steel in above-ground portions of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub being built in Lower Manhattan.
The station, the city's ABC outlet, said it asked Glenn Corbett about the decision, and he told a reporter, "Fireproofing is a critical piece of fire protection, a blanket we put on buildings to insulate the steel from heat of fire and in my estimation it is critical component for any large building particularly a transit facility like this one."
Corbett, a professor of fire safety at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a member of the New Jersey State Fire Code Council, was part of the investigation into the collapse of the World Trade Center towers after the 9/11 attack.
The Port Authority said that engineering tests showed fireproofing was unneeded above the ground level, WABC said. The authority said below-ground structural steel, where retail shops will be, would be protected.
