Watched this documentary on the Histroy Channel about the World Trade Center and got an in-depth glimpse into the genius that went into the building and construction. Here are some quick highlights: The WTC was structurally innovative because instead of the box-on-box method of skyscrapering it used a technique that pulled it's strength from the outside "skin." This in effect allowed the WTC not to topple over when the planes hit it. Eerily enough one of the people they interviewed said that the WTCs were built to withstand the impact of a 707 jet (the biggest one at the time, the 911 ones were 767s). He is now presumed missing...which they detailed in a graphic at the upper left hand corner each time he spoke. Morbid and tasteless. But moving on.



Think of the WTC as two giant stalks of celery to imagine it's support structure. There are over 250 elevators in the WTC and another innovative system was used to transport everyone up and down in a timely fashion. Stealing an idea from the subway system, the WTC has local and express elevators in-between zones which effectively meant you had to switch trains once to get anywhere. This brilliant idea got everyone up and down much quicker. Except of course, in the event of an emergency. Another amazing piece of machinery was constructed to wash all the windows on the WTC. Oh, the windows were made about shoulder width to provide a sense of comfort. It takes a whole month for each one of the towers to be cleaned by this machine. It was operated by one man who is also missing since 911.



Other random but useless facts: Each floor of the WTC was an acre. All the dirt excavated for building the foundation of the WTC was used to build 70 feet of landfill which is now Battery Park. The WTC had the largest indoor mall in Manhattan. The goal of the WTC was to create a mini-metropolis where people could work, eat, shop, take trains home and never have to be outdoors. People are now debating what we should build after the rubble is cleared...a replica, another monumental building, or a memorial. Yeah...let's build a memorial. Please.