Ever Wonder How Escalators Get to the Top of 1WTC?

If you've ever wondered how they get escalators up to the tops of skyscrapers, well, your curiosity has brought you to the right place. Most of us just always figured that when you need an escalator near the top of a tall building, you just build it up there. However, when it comes to the still-under-construction 1 World Trade Center tower, they do things a little differently...  

Thyssen-Krupp Americas is currently working on installing 74 elevators and 9 escalators in One World Trade Center with the last two escalators being brought into the monumental building just after Christmas. Thyssen-Krupp has about 65 people working on the project on the site

The two 150-foot long escalators will serve the observation level more than 100 floors above the ground.

“We don’t usually take escalators that high,” said one worker, explaining that transportation of escalators is most often done on the ground or below ground. “So to see an escalator go over a hundred stories in the building is a little unusual.”

The process to hoist each 38,000 pound escalator took 15 to 20 minutes, and another 30 minutes to bring into the building at the top. There was a crew of elevator constructors on the ground to attach the rigging and another crew at the top to guide the escalators inside.

We can only hope that somebody at The Port Authority had the foresight to make sure they could actually fit that thing through the doors.

See the amazing slideshow below