The best Empire State Building fact page
Where do you go to find out the VERIFIED information about your favorite building? The Empire State Building Official Internet Site Facts page!
Architect: Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates
Contractor: Starrett Brothers and Eken
Excavation: Began on January 22 1930
Construction: Commenced March 17, 1930. Framework rose at a rate of 4 ½ stories per week.
Cornerstone: Original laid by Alfred E. Smith on September 17, 1930. The 50th Anniversary addition laid May, 1981.
Masonry: Completed on November 13, 1930.
Total Time: One year and 45 days including Sundays and holidays. (Ahead of schedule).
Man-Hours: 7,000,000
Cost: $40,948,900 (including land)
Building Alone: $24,718,000 (the onset of the Depression halved the anticipated cost of the building.)
Area of Site: 79,288 square feet (7,240 meters) or about two acres. East to west, 424 feet (129 meters), north to south, 187 feet (56.9 meters.)
Foundation: 55 feet (16.7 meters) below ground
Basement: 35 feet (10.6 meters) below ground
Lobby: 47 feet (14.3 meters) above sea level
Total Height: 1,454 feet (1,453 feet, 8 9/16th inches) or 443.2 meters to top of lightning rod.
To 86th Floor Observatory: 1,050 feet (320 meters)
To 102nd Floor Observatory: 1,224 feet (373 meters)
102nd Floor to Tip: 230 feet
Height of Antenna: 204 feet
Floors: 102
Steps: 1,860 from street level to 102nd floor
Volume: 37 million cubic feet
Weight: 365,000 tons
Plan: Base of building rises five floors above the street. The entrance is four floors high. The lobby is three floors high. From the 60 foot setback on the fifth floor, the building soars without a break to the 86 th floor.
Steel Frame: 60,000 tons
Exterior Materials: 10,000 square feet of Rose Famosa and Estrallante marble. 300,000 square feet of Hauteville and Rocheron marble for elevator lobbies and corridors on the office floors.
Windows: 6,500
Street Level Access: Five entrances on 33rd Street, Fifth Avenue and 34th Street.
Elevators: 73, including six freight elevators, operating at speeds from 600 to 1,400 feet per minute. The total enclosed in several miles of elevator shaft. (It is possible to ride from lobby to 80th floor in 45 seconds)
Escalators: Eight high-speed escalators serve the concourse and second floor areas.
Telecommunications: Special amenities available to tenants include fiber optic cable, proprietary telephone switch and cable TV, and Internet website directory listing.
Heat: Local public utility supplies steam utilizing 50 miles of radiator pipe.
Air Conditioning: Provided by 7,450 tons of refrigeration equipment (The air conditioning was installed in 1950 and upgraded with new equipment in 1984 and 1997).
Water: 70 miles of pipe provide water to tanks at various floor levels with the uppermost at the 101st floor, satisfying average daily demand of 26,500 cubic feet.
Electricity: 2,500,000 feet of electrical wire conveys 40 million kilowatt hours used by building and tenants each year.
Fire Safety: A special water system feeds 400 fire hose connections throughout the building. A state-of-the-art audio warning and strobe light guidance system was installed in 1998.
Telephone Cable: 1,060 air miles of telephone cable serve tenants. Waste Handling: 100 tons of trash and waste are removed from the building each month.
Staff: About 250 persons, including a maintenance staff of 150