'It's More Than a Project'

“We take a lot of pride in the effort,” says Kevin P. Murphy, Lend Lease's museum-memorial project executive. “For us, it's more than a project. It's another icon for Manhattan.”

One of the most commonly heard words at the site is “stakeholders.” It's really a euphemism for competitors or competing teams working for the same client or the same company working for two clients on several projects, with different consultants.

That's the case for the local Tishman Construction Corp., a unit of AECOM Technology. Tishman is the string that runs through most of the projects. It is managing construction for three of the four towers under way, excluding 2 WTC. In addition, Tishman is in a joint venture with Turner Construction Co. for the hub, which sits next to 2 WTC.

“We have a pretty good relationship with Tishman,” says Murphy. “You really have to play nice in the sandbox to survive, everything is so interdependent. The spirit of work is terrific for the most part.”

It's not always fun and games in the sandbox. “We're all very focused on our own projects,” says James Durkin, Tishman's senior vice president for the hub. “There's a lot of fighting—there has to be.”

For example, the basement of 3 WTC, which sits between the hub and 4 WTC, contains mechanical space that “belongs” to most of the stakeholders. “The challenge here is that everyone has a different team, and we are given different drawings from different consultants,” says Mike Goldberg, Tishman's senior vice president for 3 WTC, which is still in the basement construction stage.

“It's very difficult. There's a lot of calling up different stakeholders, jockeying different systems, trying to get them to fit,” he says.

To help find conflicts in the shared spaces, Goldberg and Negrycz are each using building information models for their respective basements.

Durkin says the teams rely on the port authority to be the cop. “Everyone thinks theirs is the most important project,” says Carla Bonacci, a port authority assistant director in charge of managing and enforcing the WTC master plan, which calls for 10 million sq ft of replacement office space. “But everyone has neighbors [and] boundaries and must work together.”

The Importance of Follow-Up

Much time is spent communicating. Bonacci says her motto is FUBB, or “Follow up beyond belief.”