Construction

Construction proceeded on September 19 1928[7]. In total, over 400,000 rivets were used[7] and approximately 3,826,000 bricks were manually laid, to create the non-loadbearing walls of the skyscraper.[12] Tradesmen with specialized skills converged on the site. Contractors, builders and engineers were joined by other building services experts to coordinate construction.
Prior to its completion, the building stood about even with a rival project at 40 Wall Street designed by H. Craig Severance. Severance increased the height of his project and then publicly claimed the title of the world's tallest building[13] (this distinction excluded structures that were not fully habitable, such as the Eiffel Tower)[14]. In response, Van Alen obtained permission for a 56.3 m (185 ft)[15] long spire and had it secretly constructed inside the frame of the building. The spire was delivered to the site in 4 different sections.[16] On October 23, 1929, the bottom section of the spire was hoisted onto the top of the building's dome and lowered into the 66th floor of the building. The other remaining sections of the spire were hoisted and riveted to the first spire section in sequential order in just 90 minutes