The construction of the Empire State Building took place from 1930 to 1931. It was built with riveted steel girders erected on a reinforced concrete base. This concrete slab was in turn constructed on the geological granite rock layer of Manhattan.
For several decades, the Empire State Building was the tallest skyscraper in the world, with 381 m (1,250 ft) high, and 102 floors. It was built at the site where the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel used to be located, on Fifth Avenue. This hotel had been torn down in 1929, one year before the construction began.
Structure
Designed by the architectural firm Shreve & Lamb, the Empire State Building was built with steel I-girders, or H-girders, which sometimes were reinforced with steel plates. These girder columns were anchored onto steel cribbings, which were fixed on concrete pads. These reinforced concrete pads were in turn constructed on the bare granite rock, which constitute the geological basement and foundations of Manhattan and New York city.
The cribbings and concrete pads were used to spread out the vertical load, thus to avoid what is known as a point load in the rock. To join columns and beams, they used rivets and bolts and nuts during that time; they were same materials and tools used to build ships. They did not use welding machines in those days.
Below, one of several steel cribbings, which were made of steel I-girders joined together, being set up on a concrete pad on Manhattan granite rock.
Construction of Empire State Building (video)