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Crews Begin Laying Foundation For Soon-To-Be Tallest Skyscraper In Philadelphia

By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- It will be the tallest skyscraper in Philadelphia when it's built -- the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center at 18th and Arch Streets.

The foundation was being laid today, making it one of the largest concrete pours in the city's history.

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(Credit: John McDevitt)

"It's a huge job," says Mike Ricchezza, project manager for B. Pietrini & Sons Concrete Contractors. Ricchezza says 50 workers are working to pump 4,000 cubic yards of concrete for the foundation mat.

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(Credit: John McDevitt)

"Four hundred truck loads of concrete are being cycled over a 12 hour period," he said. "We poured that in a foundation that is ten feet thick. It has approximately 400 tons of reinforcing in it."

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(Credit: John McDevitt)

Ricchezza says the concrete is expected to be cured in a couple of days, then work starts on the elevator core walls that will extend 59 floors up.

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(Credit: John McDevitt)
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