When construction reaches a point at which the Freedom Tower’s curtain wall can be worked on, the company responsible for it will be ready and waiting. This week, Benson Industries picked two special machines to help with the installation process.

The 25E Light machines are manufactured by Valla S.p.A., an Italian company, and this marks the first North American sale of them, making the development rather cutting-edge.

Indeed, the whole line of machines was only launched in January, so there aren’t yet many of them anywhere.

Antonio Valla, the owner and CEO of Valla S.p.A., stated as a result, “Having just opened our North American office in Los Angeles this year we’re proud that one of our first sales allows Valla to play a part in the rebirth of the World Trade Center.”

It looks like the 25E Light machines will be more than up to the task. They’re capable of lifting 2.25 tons, but can be operated indoors and move a load at a rate of 19.6 feet per minute. What’s more, they’ve got 223 feet of usable wire, and so shouldn’t need to be repositioned too often.

It should be a fun day when we get to see Benson Industries begin to work with the new machines.

Larry Silverstein, the owner of Silverstein Properties, has high hopes for what will happen in and around the World Trade Center site when construction wraps up. In an interview today, he talked about a self-sustaining – and soaring – local economy.

Silverstein said in a conversation published on his own World Trade Center site, “[The area] will experience a massive increase in the number of people working down here again, because you’re going to have a hundred thousand people who formerly went to the trade center coming back in when these [World Trade Center] buildings are built. That of course brings a whole range of other services that are needed by the hundred thousand people that’ll be working in the buildings.”

Then the developer continued, “So you put that together with the fact that these buildings contained about half a million square feet of destination and quality retail. The retail will serve the tenants in the buildings. The tenants in the buildings will serve the needs of retailers down below. It feeds on itself . . .”

Those are encouraging statements, especially given Silverstein’s expertise in these matters (he was actually a force behind the construction of 7 World Trade Center back in 1980).

Silverstein spoke about cooperating with the Port Authority and local politicians, too, which speaks to a smoother construction process from now on.

The full restoration of the World Trade Center site seems more certain than ever. The Port Authority Board of Commissioners has endorsed a plan that Silverstein Properties, the City of New York, and the States of New York and New Jersey should all be able to agree upon.

The “Development Plan,” as it’s known, follows an established framework, and calls for the continued construction of One World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial, which is good – if unsurprising – news. It calls for the continued construction of Tower 4, too, setting 2013 as a completion target.

The more interesting part of the agreement relates to Towers 2 and 3, which the recession put in jeopardy due to decreased demand for office space.

In a statement, the Port Authority called for “[t]he immediate construction of Tower 2 to street level with the flexibility to start construction of the office tower based solely on market demand and no public support.”

Also, the Port Authority wants to see “[t]he immediate construction of Tower 3, initially to podium level funded entirely by insurance proceeds and, should SPI meet certain private market triggers, continued tower construction to completion in 2015.”

Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia characterized the agreement on these matters as “a major milestone.”

A virtual forest of trees will be one of the more distinctive features of the World Trade Center Memorial when it’s finished, and days ahead of the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the trees have begun to arrive. Exactly 16 of them have been planted so far.

The trees are all swamp white oaks, and at the moment, they stand about 30 feet tall. In time, it’s possible they’ll reach a much more impressive 60 or 80 feet in height, however.

Also, it’s important to note that the initial 16 trees don’t represent a significant portion of the final target, which is in the neighborhood of 400 trees.

Then here’s one more interesting fact: Tina Moore reported, “The first of the trees come from New York, Pennsylvania and Washington – the locations of the three attacks.”

All of the trees should remain healthy regardless of weather conditions, as underground tubes will supply them with water and fertilizer. Digital sensors should provide groundskeepers with updates, too, in case any of the trees need extra care.

People with a bit of spare money and an interest in the USS New York have been given a chance to place items aboard the Navy vessel. This is possible because, believe it or not, the ship is being outfitted with pieces from the Tiffany silverware outfit.

While the idea sounds odd or even laughable at first listen, there is a precedent. Jennifer 8. Lee wrote, “Naval vessels often have a tradition of ‘ship’s silver’ that is brought out for special and diplomatic occasions, said Sally C. McElwreath, the director for the U.S.S. New York commissioning committee.”

The thing is that, instead of letting some state or corporation foot the bill, the public can get involved this time. An online registry‘s been established so that anybody can pick out something that suits their taste and budget.

Then, people who order pieces can have the name of an organization or an individual engraved on them. (Lee wisely suggested, “[P]erhaps that of a service member or a family member who perished on Sept. 11.”)

Orders will be accepted up to and after the ship’s commissioning date of November 7th. This is a truly interesting way of letting people interact with the USS New York.

Although the World Trade Center site is so important in relation to the September 11th attacks, it’ll eventually accommodate a significant tie to another time, too. The Anne Frank Center USA has chosen the site to receive a sapling from a tree Anne Frank wrote about.

Frank regarded a horse chestnut tree outside her house as much more than a tall hunk of wood. As Joseph Berger noted, Frank referred in her diary to looking outside “into the depth of nature and God” and being “happy, really happy.”

So it’s quite an honor for the World Trade Center site to be picked to receive a sapling. Other places and institutions selected include several Holocaust centers, the White House, and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, along with Little Rock Central High School (which is where the issue of black integration came to a head).

The one possible hitch is that the saplings must undergo a quarantine of sorts to ensure that they don’t carry any diseases. (The original tree in Amsterdam is infected with a fungus.)

Still, since the two-year quarantine period may well pass before a place for the sapling is ready at the World Trade Center site, the timing doesn’t appear to pose any real problem.

Sure enough, there were more outbursts of patriotism this morning as the USS New York set sail from Northrop Grumman’s Avondale shipyard. The occasion was recognized in several different ways while the ship moved by different parts of Louisiana.

The Greater New Orleans Executives Association brought a lot of people in on the event by organizing what it called “Line the Levees.” More than 2,500 American flags were handed out as individuals were encouraged to stand by the Mississippi and show their support.

Then, Gretna, Louisiana emergency workers actually parked their vehicles on the levees, flashing their lights and sounding their sirens.

At the Admiral’s Pier in Algiers, things got still more official as a local branch of the Navy Band performed “Anchors Aweigh.” The USS New York was also honored with a 21-gun salute.

Finally, a second 21-gun salute and a military color guard’s acknowledgment followed at the Naval Air Station’s main entrance.

It was quite a launch, all in all. Now, the USS New York will perform training exercises over the next 10 days before moving on to New York City for its official christening.

A little over a month ago, defense contractor Northrop Grumman delivered the USS New York to the Navy in New Orleans. Now, before the ship sets off to be formally christened in New York City on November 7th, civilians were given a chance to tour it.

In case you’ve forgotten, the USS New York is the amphibious transport dock ship that is capable of carrying 800 Marines. Perhaps more importantly, it has steel recovered from Ground Zero in its bow, and the ship’s motto is “Strength Forged through Sacrifice: Never Forget.”

As for the recent meet and greet, the Village Voice reported, “Northrup Grumman employees were allowed to bring family and friends aboard the New York, which has been under construction since 2004 at Northrup’s New Orleans-area Avondale shipyard.”

Some members of the media were admitted to the gathering, too, ensuring that even more people would be able to learn about the ship second-hand.

New Orleans officials are also planning a sort of sendoff party of sorts for when the USS New York leaves, so the ship and its September 11th-related history may receive still more attention in the near future.

The Port Authority’s public relations representatives seem to have gone underground following September 11th; official updates have been nonexistent. However, word’s still trickled in that some impressive things are taking place at the World Trade Center construction site.

A tipster recently told Curbed, “1 World Trade Center is having its largest crane to date set in. It’s going to be the largest used.” A bigger crane is presumably capable of accomplishing more work, so that’s a good sign, implying that the pace may pick up in the near future.

The anonymous individual also wrote, “Half of the jumbo steel columns are in and they are starting on the first floor of the building as you can see by the steel.” And that’s also very nice to hear, since it means that pretty much all of the progress should take place at a visible level from now on.

Perhaps we’ll soon start to hear news again through official channels. If not, the “visible level” detail should ensure that everyone’s able to stay up to date, regardless.

More World Trade Center wreckage joined the collection the Port Authority already kept at Kennedy International Airport this week. Pieces were trucked in from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The pieces had been in the care of the NIST so that they could undergo testing and help with the investigation concerning the cause of the World Trade Center’s collapse. (It seems safe to assume that they did a bit of sitting around and collecting dust, too, in the span of eight years).

Now, as Terri Sanginiti reported, “A convoy of 25 flatbed tractor-trailers carrying twisted steel from the World Trade Center drove through Delaware . . . with a state police escort headed for Kennedy International Airport in New York. . . . The contents of steel are bound for Hangar 17 at the airport to be preserved with other artifacts recovered from the World Trade Center.”

Many of the trucks bearing the pieces displayed flags and “Never Forget” banners. Other motorists sometimes pulled over out of respect, or at least to take pictures.

Given the rate at which the Port Authority has started to pass out World Trade Center artifacts, it may not be long before some of the pieces are brought back out of storage and integrated into memorials, either.