1 World Trade Center Is Topped with Final Section of Its Spire

From crow's nest 1,701 feet above the ground, ironworkers bolt the top section of spire into place. Photo: Port Authority of NY & NJ

It’s been crowned. 

Workers on Friday attached the top section of 1 World Trade Center's 408-foot-high antenna, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third tallest on earth at 1,776 feet.

Crane operator John Schaffner ever so slowly lifted the 40-ton, 75-foot-high piece—two combined antenna sections—from the building's roof, then lowered it to ironworkers standing on a platform atop the previously installed antenna, 1,701 feet above the ground. Tightening 60 bolts, the men fastened it on. 

Once activated, the antenna will be a transmission facility for the metropolitan region’s broadcast outlets. Its beacon has LED modules that will be visible from up to 50 miles away on a clear day. 

In December, the spire arrived near Pier 25 in sections, aboard a barge that had traveled some 1,700 miles from its factory in Quebec. The steel sections were hoisted piece by piece to the top of the future office tower, which is slated to open next year.