New York (CNN) -- Construction crews at the 16-acre World
Trade Center site will raise the final two sections of a 408-foot spire to the
top of One World Trade Center on Monday morning, making the building the
tallest in the Western Hemisphere, according to the site's management.
A stainless steel beacon weighing almost six tons will be
the final piece put in place to give the building an iconic height of 1,776
feet, according to a news release from the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey.
Once the architectural structure is complete, it will be
comprised of 18 separate sections of steel and three communication rings. The
first -- and heaviest -- steel section was installed in January, weighing more
than 67 tons, the news release said.
Port Authority Assistant Director of Media Anthony Hayes
said the original design included a radome -- short for radar dome --but that
was rejected because of anticipated servicing and maintenance difficulties. The
radome would not have impacted the height, but would have provided an
additional design element, which ultimately proved impractical, Hayes told CNN.
The spire will serve a television broadcast facility housed
in One World Trade Center, the press release said.
While under construction, One World Trade Center became New
York City's tallest building a year ago, standing 1,271 feet above
street-level. The building then was 21 feet higher than the Empire State
Building's observation deck.
No comments:
Post a Comment