Final spire section erected on Freedom Tower

One World Trade Center was topped out May 10 with the erection of the last section of the building’s spire crowing the building known as Freedom Tower. The Freedom Tower replaces on the New York City skyline the World Trade Center Twin Towers that were destroyed during the attacks of 9/11 in 2001.

The final section of the spire was hoisted to the top of the building on May 3. Weighing more than 700 tons, the rigging of the final section included an American flag waving in the wind, a patriotic gesture that pleased hundreds of onlookers who came out to witness the event.

The same Favelle Favco tower crane that has been on the job for more than six years hoisted the spire to the top of the building and then hoisted it to its final position on top of the building.

With the spire installed, the building tops out at 1,776 feet. The symbolic height memorializes the year in which the Declaration of Independence was signed. Freedom Tower will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, according to the Port Authority of New York.

The 408-foot spire will serve as a broadcast antenna and communications center for the building.