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.
"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.
"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."
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.