Crews install spire atop One World Trade Center in New York City

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Construction workers bolted a 408-foot spire into place atop One World Trade Center on Friday, symbolically capping New York's comeback after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The spire brings the iconic building to a height of 1,776 feet -- an allusion to the year the United States declared its independence.

The pieces to be installed Friday morning were hoisted to a temporary platform atop the building last week.

The spire contains 18 steel sections and three communication rings. The first -- and heaviest -- steel section was installed in January. It weighs more than 67 tons, according to a statement from the Port Authority.

It will serve as an antenna for a television broadcast facility housed in the building, which rises from the site near the original World Trade Center towers, which fell in the 2001 attacks.

Last week, construction director Steven Plate told CNN affiliate WABC that the spire will be a "beacon that'll be seen for miles around and give a tremendous indication to people around the entire region, and the world, that we're back and we're better than ever."

Construction on the building began in April 2006.