Michael Burton rose from the choking dust of the World Trade Center collapse to lead the site's cleanup effort to an anticipated early finish.
"In less than two hours, both buildings would collapse in a maelstrom of fire, smoke, choking dust and debris. The hysteria that gripped New York was compounded by rumors of another attack at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C, and of a mysterious plane crash in rural Pennsylvania. ... At first, Burton, executive deputy commissioner of the city's Dept. of Design and Construction (DDC), figured he'd round up netting and sidewalk bridging to protect pedestrians from falling debris. "Little did I know what was ahead of me," he says. "I thought I had ordered 10 times what I needed. It turned out to be just one-millionth of what we would end up ordering."
Thanks to ENR Editor
FULL STORY: Award of Excellence Winner: Michael Burton
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Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research