Behind the Grand Pour: Building L.A.’s new tallest tower

Over the next three years, workers will raise the New Wilshire Grand tower 1,100 feet above the corner of Figueroa Street and Wilshire Boulevard. With an open promenade and an enormous swoop of glass above the entrance, this translucent airplane wing 73 stories tall promises to redefine architectural possibilities in a city not known for its tall buildings.

But first, they would need 2,120 truckloads of concrete to fill a hole 18 feet deep and nearly two-thirds the size of a football field. It had to be poured without interruption in less than 30 hours.