TV Program Description
Premieres on PBS: September 7, 2011

Shot over three years with unique behind-the-scenes access from The Port Authority of New York, this program follows the reconstruction of the Freedom Tower (1 WTC), the September 11th Memorial, and the Santiago Calatrava-designed transportation hub on the hallowed 16 acres at Ground Zero. The builders of the Freedom Tower face the steep challenge of building a secure, energy-saving skyscraper that satisfies everyone's high expectations for this iconic site.

The Tower project is a worldwide effort with Luxembourg manufacturing the steel beams, Germany making the elevators, Italy supplying the marble, Oregon assembling the exterior curtain wall panels, and Canada sculpting the crowning antenna. With its unique on-site footage, NOVA profiles the architects, engineers, and construction workers toiling on the memorial, the transportation hub, and The Tower–some of whom will labor at heights topping 1,500 feet. Many of these workers have a direct link to the original World Trade Center: Some worked directly on its original construction while others lost family members in the buildings' collapse. Weaving intimate personal stories into its extraordinary construction endeavor, "The New World Trade Center: Engineering an Icon" is an epic tale of engineering, innovation, and the perseverance of the human spirit.

Building on Ground Zero

• Impact to Collapse
• Towers of Innovation
• A Survivor's Story
• The Tallest Tower
• Outfitting Firefighters
• The Structure of Metal