The 1 WTC spire is being shipped from Canada via barge and truck in 18 total pieces

Installation of the new 1 World Trade Center (WTC) steel spire begins in December. Port Authority project managers have prepared the towers roof for its arrival, installing additional steel for the spires platform and for the special cranes that will lift its 18 pieces into place.

The 408-foot-tall spire is designed to support antennas and communications equipment, raising 1 WTC to the height of 1,776 feet -- making it the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. The skyscraper topped out at 1,368 feet (105 stories) in August 2012.

The spire's lower 9 sections arrived at the Port of New Jersey via barge in late November

The spire was fabricated in sections at a factory in Quebec, and is being transported by barge to New York City. During its 11-day voyage, the barge will travel down the Eastern Seaboard and into New York Harbor to dock at Pier 25, at N. Moore and West Street.

Starting approximately mid-December, crews will begin to transport the spire segments one by one to the WTC site. Each one will be hoisted from the barge onto a 21-foot-wide truck specially designed to carry the sections -- each of which can reach up to 40 feet and weigh up to 47 tons (about the weight of a full tractor-trailer). Upon reaching the WTC site, the spire sections will be assembled, piece-by-piece, at the top of 1 WTC.

The process is expected to conclude by mid-2013, but the exact date will depend on weather during the operations.

Related Links