8. 40 Wall Street Was Built in Less Than A Year

40 Wall Street is considered an engineering feat, constructed in just eleven months. The Landmarks Preservation Commission writes in the building’s designation report, that the engineering and construction were “extraordinarily complex.” There were many other skyscrapers under construction in the area at the same time and the site itself was crowded without space to store building materials. Unlike the Woolworth Building, whose foundations could be sunk using pneumatic caissons, existing structures underground prevented this method from being used at 40 Wall Street. The subsoil was problematic with bedrock at “64 feet below street level, with layers of boulders and quicksand above” writes the Commission. The site was demolished and foundation was laid at the same time, which was a rare process.