1 WTC spire installation begins in fall 2012*

With 1 World Trade Center (WTC) now topped out at 1,368 feet -- or 105 stories, the same height as the twin towers -- Port Authority crews in August began building out the roof and preparing it for the new steel architectural spire. The 408-foot-tall spire is designed to support antennas and communications equipment, and by spring 2013 will raise 1 WTC to the height of 1,776 feet above street level, making it the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere.

The spire is being fabricated as 16 separate sections at a factory near Montreal, and will be transported by barge to New York City in mid-November. 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.

Just after Thanksgiving, 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 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.

Workers are currently installing a temporary steel framework at the top of the tower to support the spire during assembly. Two cranes will lift each spire section into place: one carries the section up to the 1,370-foot-high platform, and another lifts the piece into place onto the spire. The process is expected to conclude in early 2013, but the exact date will depend on weather during the operations.

The skyscraper topped in August 2012. Its facade is now up to the 83rd floor. Across the site, 4 WTC is also topped out, at 72 stories, and its facade is above the 60th floor.

*Photo by Joe Woolhead, Silverstein Properties

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