The elements of the giant steel framework that will combine to form the crowning spire of the new One World Trade Center just arrived in New York. Nine of the 18 massive steel pieces that will be assembled to make up the enormous 408-foot-tall (137m) spire were so heavy they had to make the long 1500 nautical mile journey by sea from Valleyfield, Quebec where they were fabricated by ADF Group Inc., down the Atlantic seaboard and into New York Harbour (the ship left Valleyfield on November 16th).
Upon their arrival yesterday the construction crew worked late into last night to lift the enormous pieces off the cargo ship by crane. The lightest 9 steel sections of the spire which were trucked in earlier are the lightest — with weights beginning at around 5 tons. But the giant pieces which were shipped in yesterday weight up to 67 tons each. Earlier Tuesday, workers poured cement atop the 104-story skyscraper where the spire will be locked into place. Steven Plate is the man heading up the revolutionary and hugely complex construction project, and earlier this morning he told CBS This Morning: “This project truly has really redefined construction I think throughout the world on all levels whether it be construction, whether it be design, whether it be logistics,” he said. “Keeping in mind, we’re building a city within a city.”
The tower at One World Trade Center became the tallest building in New York back in April. It will take three months for the very top piece of the spire to be put into place, but when it’s done the tower will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The tower’s height will reach a symbolic 1,776 feet in honor of the year 1776 when America was founded with its Declaration of Independence on July 4th.
