One World Trade Center: NYC Skyscraper Will Be Tallest Building In Western Hemisphere

One World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the western hemisphere sometime during the day on Monday. Workers will be placing the more than 400-foot spire at the top of the main World Trade Center building that will replace the two iconic "twin towers" lost along with thousands of lives during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The spire of the new World Trade Center building is so massive it reportedly had to be shipped to New York City in approximately 18 pieces.

While the address of 1 World Trade Center, west of Church Street and south of Vesey, will not be operational until sometime in 2014, the tower will reach maximum height with the placement of the beacon. In addition to housing the typical flashing warning light or lights to ward off air traffic, the beacon will be a megawatt behemoth for radio and television transmission. This means, on a clear night, folks as far away as Pennsylvania may once again be able to receive their favorite AM stations based out of New York loud and clear in addition to their local affiliates.

Currently, motor traffic in the vicinity of the construction site is completely prohibited, outside of the West Side Highway and a number of narrow blocks on Church Street running north-to-south, or uptown-downtown along its borders. Vesey and Liberty Streets, which form the World Trade Center's lateral boundaries are all but closed, except part of what used to be Vesey, open to pedestrian traffic funneling from the R and E trains to the PATH train system that takes commuters into New Jersey.

Just northeast of the World Trade Center tower is 51 Park Place, which drew media attention on Friday after Boeing landing gear from that fateful day was found wedged between it and the building behind it on Murray Street, as previously reported by the Latin Times.

One World Trade Center will be a fitting 1,776 feet tall, still over an eight of a mile shorter than the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, coming in at 2,700 feet.