They’re not, to be honest, the most photogenic things the world has ever seen.  Two steel columns have stretched out of the Freedom Tower site, however, and their appearance marks the start of above-street-level construction.

David W. Dunlap reports, “One World Trade Center, also called the Freedom Tower, broke through the street-level barrier on Saturday when workers for DCM Erectors attached new sections atop two of the 24 jumbo columns that form the building’s perimeter.  The additional steel brought the columns to a height of about 15 feet above grade.  The authority said the 22 other columns were expected to sprout through May, June and July.”

We can’t count on inhabitable floors popping up overnight, then, but it’s nice to have some visible progress.  Certain onlookers had been growing quite impatient with perceived delays and slowness.

Also, critics and devotees alike should be glad to hear that there wasn’t any big ceremony to celebrate the achievement.  Or, in other words, there wasn’t anything that would stop work.

Keep an eye out for Freedom Tower photos from this point on; its construction will definitely be a process worth watching.