Pentagon construction workers honored for rebuilding efforts

Congress applauded Pentagon construction workers on Thursday for their round-the-clock efforts to rebuild the Defense Department's headquarters following the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Initially working 24 hours a day and seven days each week, the outstanding men and women of the Pentagon Renovation Program have demonstrated the nation's resolve and know-how, and are six weeks ahead of schedule," said Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., reading from a recently passed congressional resolution (H. Res. 368) at a Pentagon ceremony honoring the workers. Several other lawmakers and actress Bo Derek also turned out to salute the workers.

On Sept. 11, construction crews were wrapping up the first phase of a decade-long renovation of the 60-year-old Pentagon when a hijacked airliner slammed into the side of the building. The attack destroyed much of the newly renovated portion of the facility, but the Pentagon credited several improvements made during the renovation, including the installation of shatterproof windows and reinforced support columns, with saving hundreds of lives. Still, 125 Pentagon employees and 64 passengers on a hijacked commercial airliner were killed in the attack.

Contractors originally estimated that demolishing and clearing the 400,000 square feet of bombed out space would take as long as seven months. However, construction crews working around the clock cleared the area and began rebuilding efforts within a month. Today, construction workers are putting up a new limestone façade and by Sept. 11, 2002, the building's damaged section will once again house Defense employees. Construction crews no longer work 24 hours a day, but they are working 10-hour shifts, six days a week.

"It's been fast and furious since Sept. 11," said Debbie Hoffman, a contracting officer for the Pentagon Renovation Program, who sports a star-spangled hard hat. The rebuilding effort, known as Rising Phoenix, employs hundreds of construction workers and managers (about 85 percent are contractors) and will cost more than $700 million.

Lee Evey, who oversees the renovation program, said copies of the resolution were being made for construction personnel. "This is just another example of how strongly the American public is behind us," he said. After the ceremony, while Evey showed off the congressional resolution to reporters, construction workers eagerly waited to have their pictures taken with Derek.