Spire tops New York One World Trade Center

Workers cheer as addition to building on 9/11 site makes it tallest in US

Workers cheered today as the silver spire topping One World Trade Center in New York was fully installed on the building's roof today bringing the landmark structure to its full, symbolic height of 1,776 feet (541m).

The Manhattan building, still in construction, is at the site of the terror attacks on the twin towers on September 11th, 2001.

Pieces of the spire were transported to the roof of the building last week. It weighs 758 tonnes.The 124m spire will serve as a world-class broadcast antenna. An LED-powered light emanating from it will be seen from miles away.

The new tower is at the north-west corner of the World Trade Centre site, which is well on its way to reconstruction with the 72-storey Four World Trade Centre and other buildings.

READ MORE

At 1,776 feet — or 541 metres — it is symbolic of the year 1776, when the US declared its independence. The north-west corner of the site where the twin towers were destroyed in the September 11th 2001, terror attacks.

The addition of the spire, and its raising of the building’s height to 541m, makes One World Trade Center the tallest structure in the US and third-tallest in the world, although building experts dispute whether the spire is actually an antenna — a crucial distinction in measuring the building’s height.

If it didn't have the spire, One World Trade Centre would actually be shorter than the Willis Tower in Chicago, which stands at 442.26 metres and has the title of tallest building in the US, not including its own antennas.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a Chicago-based organisation considered an authority on such records, says an antenna is something simply added to the top of a tower that can be removed. By contrast, a spire is something that is part of the building’s architectural design. The tower is due to open for business in 2014.

AP