How long did it take to build the Empire State Building in the 1930's? Was there a reward / penalty involved for quick construction? how come it takes much longer to build similar building these days?
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First steps of construction ( digging ) began on January 22, 1930, the Building was opened on May 1, 1931 , it means it was finished in only 465 days, but it took the lives of 14 workers. There was no financial reward, but the building took the title of "world's tallest building" from the 426 ft shorter Chrysler Building. The building held the title until 72 when the World Trade Center (North tower) was finished. Although in our days we use better technology and better materials, the building code became very strict , union labor became stronger ( meaning more payment for workers for less time ) and customer demands became more sophisticated. Looking at Taipei 101 as an exemplar , it's infrastructure and architectural complexity require more time to construct, mainly because they are highly detailed.
Excavation of the site for the Empire State Building began on January 22, 1930, and construction on the building itself started on March 17.
The project involved 3400 workers, mostly European immigrants, along with hundreds of Mohawk nation iron workers; 14 of the workers died during construction.
The project was hurried to completion in order to take the title of "world's tallest building" from the nearby Chrysler Building.
The Empire State Building was officially opened on May 1, 1931, when President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington, D.C. that turned on the building's lights, 410 days after construction commenced.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building
http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/photo/hinex/empire/empire.html
About the reward I do not know , but the speed is also a function of the specifications: today buildings have to stand a 7 richter scale earthquake , strong winds ; I think that 75 years ago the standards were not so high. Any way - the speed it was built is really remarkable.
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