World Trade Center steel returning to Pa. foundry site

Forty-one years after they left Lukens Steel in Coatesville on a train destined for the World Trade Center and a sad but pivotal role in our nation's history, 10 fifty-ton steel "trees" are on their way back to Chester County Wednesday.

The 70-foot beams with three-prongs on the end are traveling from New York City in a mile-long 28-truck convoy. They will enter Coatesville along business Rt. 30 from Rt. 100 about 2 p.m.

The convoy was briefly delayed near East Stroudsburg about 11 a.m. when one of the tractor-trailers rear-ended another on a ramp to Route 209 from Interstate 80, state police said.

No one was hurt in what a state police spokesman called a minor fender bender. The ramp was shut down for about half an hour while the damaged tractor was unhitched and towed away. The convoy, now 27 trucks, continued on. Another tractor was called in and will haul the 28th container to Coatesville, police said.

A welcoming ceremony is planned at 4 p.m. with local dignitaries and rescue workers who volunteered at ground zero.

Many of the 156 trees used in the World Trade Center were still standing after the attack of Sept. 11, forming an iconic image of the horror of that day.

Now, they are destined to become the centerpiece of The National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum in Coatesville, where for nearly 200 years Lukens' products fueled the area economy.