The US military said on Saturday it would cost "hundreds of millions" of dollars to repair the damage after a hijacked jetliner struck its 48-year-old Pentagon headquarters.
That comes on top of a US$758 million modernization program, already under way, to upgrade and strengthen the world's largest office building, said Lee Evey, director of the ongoing renovation.
The Defense Department on Saturday awarded an initial US$145 million contact to Chantilly, Virginia-based Hensel Phelps Construction Co to rebuild the damaged portions of the Pentagon.
"With the award of this contract we can begin immediate repairs to the Pentagon and make the necessary improvements that will keep it operating for the next 50 years," Evey said.
Evey spoke as clean-up and search crews continued to work in a fire-blackened part of the Pentagon, shattered and burned when hijackers crashed the jet into the building as part of a coordinated attack on America.
Modernization of the first wedge of the five-sided building had recently been completed and the aircraft smashed into that section, causing heavy damage there.
But Evey said damage in the renovated area was not nearly as bad as to the older area. And he suggested that lives were saved by new steel girders and a sprinkler system.
"This was a terrible tragedy and people lost their lives. But I am here to tell you that had we not undertaken this effort in the building, this could have been much, much worse," he said.
"We undertook a significant amount of work to try to make the building much more blast resistant than it was prior to renovation."
The complete renovation project, begun in 1994, will not be completed until at least 2012. And it could take several years alone to complete repairs to the damaged area, Evey said.
The renovation will include new girders throughout the structure and 5cm-thick windows, in addition to modern communications and other systems.
Although the building eventually collapsed in the area where the airliner hit, the official said, the damage was mitigated because of steps by the US Army Corps of Engineers to make the Pentagon more resistant to explosion.
He spoke as searchers continued to probe the rubble for remains of 187 people who are unaccounted for, including 64 aboard the airliner. More than 80 bodies have been recovered, but virtually all will require identification by forensic experts.
The Pentagon on Saturday said it had identified the remains of Aerographer's Mate First Class Edward Thomas Earhart, 26, of Salt Lick, Kentucky. He was previously listed as missing.
It also reduced its estimate of the number missing by one, after learning that a civilian employee had been a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the World Trade Center.
Hensel Phelps and other firms on the renovation team would remove debris, demolish Pentagon sections down to the columns and floor slabs, and then rebuild space equivalent to more than two Empire State Buildings, Evey said.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
RSS