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Koppers Honored as Major
Contributor to Pentagon Roof Project
Pittsburgh Firm Supplied Coal Tar Roofing to Replace Original Destroyed In September 11 Attack
June 26, 2002, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — In
1943, the newly built Pentagon in Washington, D.C. featured a coal
tar built-up roof, one of the strongest and most durable roofing
solutions available. Nearly 60 years later, Koppers has donated
40,000 square feet of coal tar materials to reconstruct that roof,
which was destroyed during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
On June 25, 2002, Koppers will join other major
contributors in Washington D.C. to be thanked by the National Roofing
Contractors
Association (NRCA). The NRCA Pentagon Project began last year,
as members of the roofing industry banded together with donations
and volunteer labor to replace the Pentagon's damaged roof system.
Clyde Henry, manager of Commercial Roofing, and
Andy Noble, regional sales manager, Commercial Roofing, will represent
Koppers at the
NRCA ceremony, which also marks the completion of the first phase
of the reroofing project. Hundreds of roofing firms around the
country contributed money, materials or volunteer labor. They
expect to complete the project in late summer 2002.
Koppers donated 40,000
square feet of coal tar roofing materials for the first phase
of repair of the flat built-up roof of the
Pentagon. Koppers has sold an additional 1,300 roofing squares
to contractors working on phase two, which is now underway.
The
terrorist-controlled jet that crashed into the Pentagon penetrated
the second story of the Pentagon on September 11 and dumped 20,000
gallons of jet fuel onto the roof. The fuel ignited and burned
about 50,000 square feet of roof, with additional structural damage.
The inner three "rings" of the Pentagon have coal-tar-pitch
built-up roof systems, and Koppers' donation will allow contractors
to match the new roof to the original.
The Pentagon is one of the world's largest office buildings. As
the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Pentagon
employs approximately 23,000 military and civilian personnel. Coincidentally,
groundbreaking for its initial construction took place on September
11, 1941. It was completed a mere 16 months later on January 15,
1943. About Koppers:
Koppers, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a global integrated
producer of carbon compounds and treated wood products for
use by the utility,
construction, railroad, aluminum, chemical and steel industries.
Koppers operates 39 facilities in the United States, Europe,
Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and South Africa. The company
has an indirect
ownership interest in KSA Limited Partnership, a concrete crosstie
manufacturer, in Portsmouth, Ohio. The company's stock is shared
by a large number of management investors and by majority equity
owner Saratoga Partners of New York, N.Y. |
