Test Blasts Conducted at Former WTC Site

NEW YORK -- Construction crews set off test explosions Monday at the site for the Freedom Tower, producing muffled blasts where the World Trade Center once stood.

If the process passes a review by the Fire Department and other agencies, blasting will be performed several times a day, about three times a week, for the next two months, said Mel Ruffini, Tishman Construction's Freedom Tower project manager.

Blasting to prepare the bedrock for construction will produce less noise and dust than jackhammers, and will save two months of work, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site.

Tourists on neighboring Church Street did not hear anything during Monday's test, and people on other nearby streets heard only muffled sounds, said Coleman.

Politicians and others have been critical of the slow progress at the site five years after the terrorist attack.

Five office towers, a Sept. 11 memorial, a transit hub and a performing arts center are planned at the 16-acre site.