Six years after the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York City and the so-called “War on Terror” that happened soon after, many people are still reeling from the impact caused by the terrorist attacks.
While some are still coming to terms with the violence of such attacks on a superpower like America, others lauded the nationalism and unity that was fostered exactly after 9/11. This is the concept behind the Xlibris book, After 9-11: An Engineer’s Work at the World Trade Center.
After 9-11 is the creation of Donald Friedman, an engineer whose skills were put to the test on those dark days following the harrowing events of Sept. 11. This book looks back at the valiant efforts of ordinary men and women as they sifted through rubble at Ground Zero looking for any hint of life, and finding clues as to the immensity of the damage to such a formidable structure brought about by the terrorist attacks.
Friedman tells his story from a structural engineer’s point of view, but with the heart of one who has seen destruction all around him. His specific skill – forensic engineering – comes to good use as he and other fellow volunteers struggle to bring back a sense of order in the disfigured New York City skyline with their efforts at Ground Zero.
After 9-11 may have been first published in 2003, but the story remains as fresh as ever – even after six years.
Author
Donald Friedman has always been working in and around buildings. As a Civil Engineering graduate from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, his design and management experience includes integrating modern construction into existing buildings with archaic structural systems, building repair and construction, and investigation of historical building structures. His expertise in this field has turned him into an academician, a noted speaker at several conferences, and an author with several books to his name.
Friedman’s skills in assessing the structural makeup of historical buildings brought him to Ground Zero where he was among a team of structural engineers who investigated the integrity of buildings surrounding the fallen World Trade Center site. His volunteer group also evaluated the safety of the towering piles of rubble at Ground Zero, and pieced together the final minutes of the Twin Towers as they collapsed.
