The Incredible Engineering Behind ‘Edge’, The Highest Outdoor Observation Deck in the Western Hemisphere

In 2015, we wrote about how the massive New York City development Hudson Yards will be building an observation deck that will be attached to on the 30 Hudson Yards building that sits 1,100 feet in the air and be the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere.

More recently, John Kelly, Vice President at Related Companies shared with Fast Company how the observation deck, now called “Edge”, was crafted in Italy and made the 4,000 mile ocean trip to a port in New Jersey without a hitch. The most complicated part of the journey was transporting the deck modules onto the Manhattan worksite.

When we arrived in a port in New Jersey with the modules, taking them across the Hudson River
and getting them onto the West Side Highway, shutting down traffic, removing street signs and traffic lights, that last leg of the journey I think was the toughest part. Once we get them onto the site we had months of pre-planning to make sure that they would hoist itself into position. Getting them through the streets of New York was definitely the most challenging part of the equation.

While much of the massive development has come to fruition, “Edge” is slated to be open in 2020.
Observation Deck at Hudson Yards

Hudson Observation Deck

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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