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WTC Spire Arrives in New York City

By Irene Plagianos | December 11, 2012 5:07pm

LOWER MANHATTAN — A barge loaded with nine massive, steel sections of One World Trade Center’s crowning spire arrived at Pier 25 Tuesday morning, ending a nearly monthlong trip to New York City.

The pieces, weighing more than 50 tons each, made the long journey from Quebec — where they were constructed — landed in New Jersey, and made the voyage across the Hudson River this morning.

Steven Plate, the WTC’s director of construction, said the addition of the spire will bring the tower's height to 1,776 feet, making it the tallest building in the city, as well as the Western Hemisphere.

Officials said they planned to move the sections using huge flat-bed trucks to the WTC site sometime after midnight Wednesday.

The plan, said Plate, is to start hoisting the spire pieces atop the 104-story skyscraper Wednesday morning.

The entire spire, which will be a functioning communications tower, is made of 18 pieces — some of which are already at the site.

Plate said he hopes to see the spire rise high into the air by next spring.

"It will be a great moment for New York," Plate said this morning.