Once again, Donald Trump’s self-serving actions don’t line up with his bluster about supporting American workers or American businesses. While Trump is spouting off about the advantages of American steel, he chose to build Trump Tower with reinforced concrete instead of Pennsylvania steel to save money.
Trump continues to prove he’s only out for himself, not working families.
Background:
Trump Tower Was Built Out Of Reinforced Concrete Instead Of Pennsylvania Steel To Save Money
Trump Tower Architect Der Scutt Said Trump Used Concrete Instead Of Steel For Trump Tower To Keep Costs Low. “When You Change Steel, You Have To Send It Back To Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, And It Comes Back Five Weeks Later. To Do It In Steel Would Have Been Prohibitively Expensive.” According to Wayne Barrett-Trump: The Deals And The Downfall, The choice of concrete for Trump Tower was hardly automatic, even though it was frequently used in residential construction. The mixed uses planned for Donald’s building-with the bottom third of the floors relegated to retail and office space-left Donald with options, since office buildings are rarely just concrete. While concrete gave Trump a more rigid and solid building, it was also more appropriate because the tower was being built un a fast track-meaning it was being designed 2 floor at a time and going up as fast as it could be designed. “When you change concrete,” architect Scutt explained, “all you have to do is change the form a little bit. When you change steel, you have to send it back to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and it comes back five weeks later. To do it in steel would have been prohibitively expensive.” [Wayne Barrett- Trump: The Deals And The Downfall, 12/1/91]
Trump Tower Was “One Of The Most Expensive Private Concrete Jobs In History” At $22 Million. According to Wayne Barrett- Trump: The Deals And The Downfall, “In the end, the tower would become one of the most expensive private concrete jobs in history-running up a $22 million concrete bill, compared with only $300,000 worth of touch-up steelwork. Each of the fifty-eight stories rested entirely on reinforced concrete beams, not steel. The 45,000 cubic yards of concrete weighed 90,000 tons, one and a half times the weight of all the steel used in the Empire State Building. The only real steel used in the building was the 3,800 tons of reinforcing steel rods inside the concrete blocks.” [Wayne Barrett- Trump: The Deals And The Downfall, 12/1/91]
Published: Jun 28, 2016