ENR's Award Of Excellence: Michael Burton

"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