One World Trade Center Gets Its Spire

Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

One World Trade Center has ascended to its zenith. Crews today raised the new tower's spire, bringing the building to its final height of 1776 feet. Now the debate begins: Is WTC One the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere? The answer comes down to semantics.

Last spring, New York City celebrated as the skyscraper grew past 1250 feet tall, the height of the Empire State Building not including its antenna, to become the city's tallest building. Last September, when PopMech highlighted One World Trade as one of the 10 most impressive feats of mega-engineering, the architect and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were arguing about the design of the tower's antenna, which might (or might not) make it the tallest building in our hemisphere.

Whether or not WTC One earns this distinction depends what the people who get to decide?the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat?say about the spire. The council could rule that the piece placed atop the tower today is an essential part of the building's structure and therefore should count toward to the total height, or that it's a non-essential radio antenna, which would not qualify.

The building WTC One would replace as tallest in the West is Willis Tower in Chicago, formerly known as the Sears Tower. This black skyscraper's antenna reaches 1730 feet above the Windy City. At 1450 feet high, however, its rooftop outstretches that of One World Trade Center by nearly 100 feet. If the council rules against One WTC when it meets in November, The Verge reports, New York's new jewel could tumble down the ranking of the world's tallest towers.

This seems like a pointless matter, but pride matters. I visited the skydeck of Willis Tower just last month and its employees and promotional videos went to great pains to play up the skyscraper's status as the tallest in the West, perhaps anticipating that their days were numbered.

Whatever the ruling, WTC One is an incredible structure. Take a look at PopMech's pics from the top, taken last summer.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/one-world-trade-center-gets-its-spire-15454453?src=rss

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