What is done with wreckage/debris?

Factual Questions
21

Back when I was in undergrad, there was a tradition among Mechanical and Civil Engineers in which a new engineer took an oath regarding the ethical standards and societal implications of his work and was given an iron ring as a symbol of his committment. The iron ring was to be worn on the small finger of the working hand. The story was that the rings were made from the wreckage of some large failed bridge like the Tacoma Narrows, but that part may be UL since I don’t think the dates and places jibe with the starting of the Order of the Iron Ring.

Regardless of the UL, I think it would be a fitting memorial if some of the WTC wreckage could be recycled into wearable mementos embodying a “never forget” attitude. I don’t think any of us will ever forget, but this would serve as an outward and visible sign of that committment. In a few years when the people who perpetrated this crime are asking for foreign aid or grousing about some economic treaty, the ambassadors, polititians and citizens involved could look to this symbol as a token of remembrance and solidarity.

Obviously this doesn’t recycle more than a tiny fraction of the wreckage, and there would be immense practical issues in preventing profiteering and counterfeits, but I think the symbolism would be meaningful.

22

Here’s a couple of links about the iron ring. It’s a custom that developed in Canada, with some assistance from Rudyard Kipling. I don’t know if there’s an equivalent in the U.S.?

The bit about the rings being made from a collapsed bridge appears to be a myth that developed after the iron ring ceremony was created. One of the above links says that the bridge was at Quebec City, but the second says that the rings have never been made from wreckage. Either way, the myth adds to the symbolism of the ring.