Post by Admin on Apr 12, 2014 14:45:25 GMT
December 14, 2001
Trade Center's Fireproofing Had a Questionable History
Engineering experts involved in studying the World Trade Center disaster are now closely examining the spray-on fireproofing used on much of the steel framework of the twin towers to determine whether it contributed to their collapse.
Officials with the Port Authority, the owner of the buildings, have discounted the notion that a failure of fireproofing played a significant role in the collapses, arguing that the damage was so extreme that the performance of the fireproofing was, in effect, moot. And they have disputed the assertion of some experts that the authority had failed to adequately maintain the fireproofing.
A review of the history of the buildings shows that even as the steel columns first rose into the sky, problems arose. Wind-driven rains stripped the fireproofing from the framework it was meant to protect, and construction workers had to improvise dams and diverters to channel the water away. The workers then reapplied the fireproofing.
That episode was but a harbinger for the decades of dispute and repairs to come. The company that applied the wool-like sheathing was run by a reputed Gambino crime family member, Louis DiBono, who in 1990 was gunned down on orders of John Gotti. The manner in which Mr. DiBono obtained the work was then included in a criminal investigation into Port Authority construction contracting. No criminal charges resulted from the fireproofing work.
The Port Authority says the fireproofing material was thoroughly tested, and that when it did come off, the agency had a rigorous inspection and repair program in place.
Mr. DiBono was contracted to apply the fireproofing material starting in 1969. The project began with fireproofing containing asbestos but most of the floors were protected with another form of fireproofing. After health concerns arose about the asbestos, he was hired by another firm to oversee removal of the early fireproofing.
Guy F. Tozzoli, former head of the world trade department for the Port Authority, said the agency had awarded Mr. DiBono the work through competitive bidding. "He had a reputation as the best in the city," Mr. Tozzoli said.
But according to the chairman of the company that made the fireproofing, a problem arose at the start. James Verhalen, chairman of United States Mineral Products of Stanhope, N.J., said the steel had been allowed to rust during storage.
Port Authority officials did not respond yesterday to questions on the rust, but Mr. Tozzoli said that Mr. DiBono's firm had the responsibility to prepare the steel surface so the fireproofing adhered.
But the effectiveness of the very material installed in the towers is the subject of much debate among experts and competitors. The spray-on fireproofing chosen by the Port Authority was an early replacement for the asbestos-based materials that were eventually banned.
A competitor whose own cement- like product came to dominate the industry says the material used on the trade center did not stick well and was prone to deterioration.
Lawrence Shapiro, a marketing director at W. R. Grace & Co., said the fiber-based fireproofing — especially the early asbestos-free versions — never had the strength of the cement-like fireproofing that Grace produced.
But Mr. Verhalen vigorously defends the product, known as Blaze- Shield. He said he had no involvement with Mr. DiBono or his spraying work. He said his product had been thoroughly tested and approved by Underwriters Laboratories, an independent testing organization.
"There is no reason for that product in a typical commercial environment to deteriorate," he said.
Still, a consultant paid by Mr. Verhalen's firm during years of litigation with the Port Authority has said that there were, in fact, major problems over the years with the fireproofing used on the higher floors of the towers.
The consultant, Roger G. Morse, said years of inspections had revealed that whole sections of the original fireproofing had fallen away and other sections had deteriorated, leaving the steel inadequately protected.
Mr. Morse says Mr. DiBono's firm had improperly sprayed the fireproofing onto rusted steel, which would have caused it to slough off.
Mr. Morse recently contacted experts working on the federally financed investigation of the collapses and turned over hundreds of photographs that he said depicted the failure to repair the problems with the fireproofing.
One expert helping lead the investigation, Frederick W. Mowrer, said Mr. Morse's material had convinced him that the fireproofing had to be scrutinized as a potential contributor to the failures of the buildings.
Trade Center's Fireproofing Had a Questionable History
Engineering experts involved in studying the World Trade Center disaster are now closely examining the spray-on fireproofing used on much of the steel framework of the twin towers to determine whether it contributed to their collapse.
Officials with the Port Authority, the owner of the buildings, have discounted the notion that a failure of fireproofing played a significant role in the collapses, arguing that the damage was so extreme that the performance of the fireproofing was, in effect, moot. And they have disputed the assertion of some experts that the authority had failed to adequately maintain the fireproofing.
A review of the history of the buildings shows that even as the steel columns first rose into the sky, problems arose. Wind-driven rains stripped the fireproofing from the framework it was meant to protect, and construction workers had to improvise dams and diverters to channel the water away. The workers then reapplied the fireproofing.
That episode was but a harbinger for the decades of dispute and repairs to come. The company that applied the wool-like sheathing was run by a reputed Gambino crime family member, Louis DiBono, who in 1990 was gunned down on orders of John Gotti. The manner in which Mr. DiBono obtained the work was then included in a criminal investigation into Port Authority construction contracting. No criminal charges resulted from the fireproofing work.
The Port Authority says the fireproofing material was thoroughly tested, and that when it did come off, the agency had a rigorous inspection and repair program in place.
Mr. DiBono was contracted to apply the fireproofing material starting in 1969. The project began with fireproofing containing asbestos but most of the floors were protected with another form of fireproofing. After health concerns arose about the asbestos, he was hired by another firm to oversee removal of the early fireproofing.
Guy F. Tozzoli, former head of the world trade department for the Port Authority, said the agency had awarded Mr. DiBono the work through competitive bidding. "He had a reputation as the best in the city," Mr. Tozzoli said.
But according to the chairman of the company that made the fireproofing, a problem arose at the start. James Verhalen, chairman of United States Mineral Products of Stanhope, N.J., said the steel had been allowed to rust during storage.
Port Authority officials did not respond yesterday to questions on the rust, but Mr. Tozzoli said that Mr. DiBono's firm had the responsibility to prepare the steel surface so the fireproofing adhered.
But the effectiveness of the very material installed in the towers is the subject of much debate among experts and competitors. The spray-on fireproofing chosen by the Port Authority was an early replacement for the asbestos-based materials that were eventually banned.
A competitor whose own cement- like product came to dominate the industry says the material used on the trade center did not stick well and was prone to deterioration.
Lawrence Shapiro, a marketing director at W. R. Grace & Co., said the fiber-based fireproofing — especially the early asbestos-free versions — never had the strength of the cement-like fireproofing that Grace produced.
But Mr. Verhalen vigorously defends the product, known as Blaze- Shield. He said he had no involvement with Mr. DiBono or his spraying work. He said his product had been thoroughly tested and approved by Underwriters Laboratories, an independent testing organization.
"There is no reason for that product in a typical commercial environment to deteriorate," he said.
Still, a consultant paid by Mr. Verhalen's firm during years of litigation with the Port Authority has said that there were, in fact, major problems over the years with the fireproofing used on the higher floors of the towers.
The consultant, Roger G. Morse, said years of inspections had revealed that whole sections of the original fireproofing had fallen away and other sections had deteriorated, leaving the steel inadequately protected.
Mr. Morse says Mr. DiBono's firm had improperly sprayed the fireproofing onto rusted steel, which would have caused it to slough off.
Mr. Morse recently contacted experts working on the federally financed investigation of the collapses and turned over hundreds of photographs that he said depicted the failure to repair the problems with the fireproofing.
One expert helping lead the investigation, Frederick W. Mowrer, said Mr. Morse's material had convinced him that the fireproofing had to be scrutinized as a potential contributor to the failures of the buildings.