10,000-ton steel structure had to be erected without disrupting train services is complete.

The royals of Belgium and the Netherlands joined architect Santiago Calatrava in Liège, Belgium last week to celebrate the conclusion of a major phase of construction of the new Liège-Guillemins TGV station. The new station was conceived as a link between two distinct areas of the city, which previously had been separated by the tracks. On the north side of the site is a rundown urban area, and. the south a, landscaped residential area. Calatrava's design bridges the sides with a 656 foot terminal, built symmetrically about a northwest-southeast axis. The arched roof of the building extends over the five platforms for another 476 feet. The station will become one of the main nodes in Europe's high-speed rail network taking only 2 hours to get from Paris and Frankfurt, and 3 from London.

Sam Mansour