Structural steel for the 1776ft tower that will be known as One World Trade Centre has risen 200 feet above street level in a tangible sign of ground zero progress since the September 11 2001 terror attacks.

Says Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the 16-acre trade centre site: “This progress is one more sign that the site is not a pit anymore.”

Workers are currently in the midsty of installing 16 steel nodes on the 20th-floor level which serve as joints between the steel framing for the building’s podium and the steel for the rest of the tower.

The 104-storey skyscraper is due to be completed in 2013.