The 60-ft, 70 ton beam will serve as one of 24 perimeter columns that surround the building’s core. Once placed, the columns will allow the initial floors of the tower – including the lobby – to be built out. Each of the 24 columns was manufactured at the ArcelorMittal plant in Luxembourg. The steel plates were shipped to North America and fabricated in shops in South Plainfield, N.J. and Terrebonne, Canada. The columns are being delivered to the site from New Jersey over the George Washington Bridge.
Tishman Construction is managing construction on the 2.6 million-sq-ft, 102-story structure for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which will own and manage the building. Construction began in April 2006 on the steel-frame tower designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill of New York. As of last month, the superstructure had risen 105 ft above grade. More than 2,300 tons of steel had been erected and Collavino Construction Corp. of New York had placed more than 33,000 cu yd of concrete.