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During a board meeting last week, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) officials noted progress on the construction of the World Trade Center (WTC) Transportation Hub.

The 800,000-square-foot facility will replace the temporary WTC station that opened in 2003 to restore Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) service to the site following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Construction on the $3.2 billion hub began in 2007.

Next month, work will begin on building foundations for the transportation hall and Oculus, the “most visible part of the hub,” according to PANYNJ. The Oculus’ roof will be installed after the hub’s main concourse is built up to street level in 2012.

In December, workers will begin installing massive Santiago Calatrava-designed arches that will form the roof of the hub’s mezzanine level and floor of the 9/11 Memorial. More than a dozen smaller arches already have been installed to form the southern portion of the mezzanine’s roof and floor of the Memorial Pavilion, which will serve as the public’s entrance to the Memorial’s underground museum.

PANYNJ is employing a “top-down” construction method that calls for building the roof of the facility first to ensure the Memorial Plaza is open by the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The roof of the hub serves as the floor for the memorial.

Once complete, the WTC Transportation Hub will “represent the most integrated network of underground pedestrian connections in New York City,” linking PATH service, 13 subway lines, the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal, Fulton Street Transit Center, the World Financial Center, and new office and retail space at the WTC site, PANYNJ said. The station is expected to serve 250,000 people daily.

Meanwhile, commissioners also authorized several actions during the board meeting, including:
• a contract award to furnish and install miscellaneous metals for the WTC Transportation Hub’s Transit Hall;
• a contract award to install hoisting and scaffolding equipment that will provide temporary access to various areas of the Transit Hall;
• $3 million for planning and preliminary design work for an intermodal container transfer facility at the Greenville Yard-Port Authority Marine Terminal; and
• a permanent easement agreement with the city of Jersey City, N.J., to implement security improvements at the PATH Exchange Place Station.