One World Trade Center Spire's Final Sections Lifted To Roof Adorned with an American flag that flapped in the breeze, the last pieces of a silver spire were hoisted to the top of the World Trade Center on Thursday as construction workers cheered its ascent. The final two segments of the 408-foot spire will rest on a construction platform for several weeks until the entire needle is permanently installed. With the spire as its crown, the trade center will soar to a symbolic 1,776 feet in the air – a reference to the birth of the nation in 1776. Sunlight glinted off the slender steel structure as it rose slowly into the blue sky. Construction workers inside the building clustered around unfinished floor ledges to get a better glimpse of it. "It will give a tremendous indication to people around the entire region, and the world, that we're back and better than ever," said Steven Plate, who is overseeing construction of the World Trade Center. Composed of 18 parts and weighing 758 tons, the spire floated into Manhattan several months ago on a barge. With a beacon at its peak to ward off aircraft, the spire will provide public transmission services for television and radio broadcast channels. An LED-powered light emanating from it will be seen from miles away. The building is rising at the northwest corner of the site where the twin towers were destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. "It's not just a construction site," Plate said. "It's truly a mission for all of us." More photos: link
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...enter-crowned-the-tallest-building-in-us?lite Officially the tallest building in the U.S. now.
yep. But most of the buildings that are considered "the tallest building in whatever location" consider the antenna on top to be part of the buildings height. So if you didn't count this antenna, you'd have to not count the antennae on the next tallest building, and the next, and the next, etc.
don't all tall structures have beacon lights? im not sure why this was in the article lol "With a beacon at its peak to ward off aircraft"
I somewhat agree. Everyone knows that top of the final floor (roof height) is what is perceived as tall from the ground. The thin metal cylinder/antenna/spire doesn't make the same impression as a floor on the same level. Btw, spires are not the same as antennas. This is basically an 1370 ft. tall building. The 400 ft. tall antenna is nearly 30% of the 'roof' height. The Sears (Willis) Tower is 1450 ft. tall with the roof. I've seen this new building and Sears Tower from the ground, and the latter definitely seems taller. Of course, this chest thumping is hilarious given the Burj Dubai's 2700 ft roof height. That's like putting the Transco (Williams Tower) building and the Gulf building (JPMorgan Chase now) on top of the One World Trade Center. America quickly needs to get its skyscraper game on versus China and the rest of Asia.
Having the spire count towards total height is pretty silly -- they should go by the height of the roof (and nothing else) -- TBS the owners of the Sears Tower should put a spire on top if they don't like losing the (US) tallest building title. Texas needs to have the world's tallest building -- preferably in either Houston or Austin.
If the building has several stories in the basement, shouldn't that count also toward the total height?
