Waterfalls at 9/11 memorial tested

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The waterfalls of the Sept. 11 memorial at ground zero are showing signs of life.

Engineers began testing one of the twin waterfalls Tuesday, circulating hundreds of thousands of gallons of water into the north reflecting pool.

The cascades are the largest man-made waterfalls in North America, and they empty into pools that mark spots where the World Trade Center towers once stood.

The 176-foot-perimeter pools are the centerpieces of Michael Arad’s “Reflecting Absence” memorial plaza, which will cover nearly half the 16-acre lower Manhattan site and will be surrounded by thousands of trees.

The head of the foundation overseeing the memorial, Joe Daniels, said that even though Tuesday’s tests were aimed at assessing the flow and circulation of the water, the aesthetics were “stunning.”