Five years after a plane crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, two University professors are assisting in designing a memorial for those who died in the attack.
Robert G. Kelly and Edgar A. Starke Jr., University professors of Materials Science and Engineering, were called on by the architects of the Pentagon Memorial, Keith Kaseman and Julia Beckman of Kaseman Beckman Amsterdam Studio, to help determine the appropriate materials to be used in the project.
"The designers were trying to decide what material to use in the project and wanted to bounce some ideas off us," Kelly said.
The material needed to last at least 100 years and fit within the means of the memorial's projected budget, Starke said.
Materials discussed included aluminum, titanium and stainless steel, Starke said.
The professors finally chose a stainless steel alloy used in various structures, including the St. Louis Gateway Arch, Kelly said.
"We ended up with going with the stainless steel because, [with] its high resistance to pitting corrosion, common to Washington, D.C., it can be used for long periods of time," Starke said.
Construction for the Pentagon Memorial began two months ago, Kelly said.
The memorial will comprise of 184 separate units in remembrance of the victims of the Pentagon attack, project architect Julie Beckman said.
"The units are arranged [in] an age line," Beckman said. "Each age line will be arranged by the year the victims were born."
According to Beckman, the ages vary greatly, ranging from three to 71.
The memorial is being built on the southwest of the Pentagon Reservation on a park approximately two acres in size. The units will be a combination light pool and steel bench, Beckman said.
"It will give people a quiet place to sit and reflect upon the events at 9/11," Beckman said. "It invites people to think about how 9/11 affected them personally."
The memorial is expected to be finished in September 2008.
-Sarah Peeden contributed to this article
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