Tishman/Joe Woolhead

The 2.6–million–sq–ft Freedom Tower at Manhattan's World Trade Center is getting a hefty order of steel for its structural skeleton. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's board of commissioners issued a $276.48–million contract on July 26 to DCM Erectors, New York City, to fabricate, deliver and erect 43,000 tons of steel. The steel will arrive early next year for the $2.8–billion project, which already has $1.2 billion in work contracted out on the job led by Tishman Construction, New York, as CM. Still pending, according to the PA's Website: a $237.5–million contract for superstructure concrete and a $115–million contract for below–grade concrete.