Under the direction of Starrett Brothers and Eken, within the twenty months from contracts to completion, the massive Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was demolished, foundations and grillages were dug and set, and 57,000 tons of structural steel were fabricated and milled to exact specifications and raised a quarter-mile into the sky. |
Within the eleven months of construction, 10,000 bricks were laid, 62,000 cubic yards of concrete poured, 6400 windows set, and 67 elevators installed in 7 miles of shafts. Interiors were equipped with 6,700 radiators, 2,500 toilets and sinks, and finished with 10,000 tons of plaster and 328,000 square feet of marble. So brilliantly conceived and executed was the building campaign that the Empire State was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, for $25,000,000 (about $245,000,000 in 1998 dollars). |