May 2 (RIA Novosti) – The final piece of the new One World Trade Center building in New York City was hoisted to the top of the skyscraper Thursday at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Construction crews lifted the 408-foot-tall (124-meter) spire adorned with a US flag to a work platform at the top of the 104-story building, where it will be affixed over the coming weeks, according to US media reports.
The spire’s installation will make the skyscraper the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet (541 meters), a symbolic height representing America’s declaration of independence from the British Empire in 1776.
During its construction, the skyscraper became New York City’s tallest building last year at 1,271 feet (387 meters), 21 feet (6 meters) taller than the observation deck of the Empire State Building, CNN reported.
Thursday marked the second anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks that toppled the original World Trade Center towers.
The spire was supposed to be delivered Monday morning but had to be rescheduled because of bad weather in New York.
