Toronto’s CN Tower, besides becoming the worldwide symbol for the City of Toronto, was, until 2006, the world’s tallest freestanding building, and a proud example of the skills of the city’s construction workforce.
The foundation work began in February 1973. Once the tower’s base was built, a team of 1,500 workers used the technique of “continuous concrete pour,” day and night, over approximately eight months, to complete the job. A large metal platform was raised about six feet a day as the concrete below set.
On November 8, 1974, once the tower was beginning to be an imposing height, two workers conducted a daring, if illicit, celebration of the construction. With the assistance of crane operator Winston Young, a member of the International Union of Operating engineers (IUOE), ironworker Bill Eustace did a parachute jump to the cheers of workers below. Eustace was fired. Young was reprimanded for aiding and abetting.