Festivities planned for New Wilshire Grand’s 20-hour concrete pour

What is being billed as the world’s largest continuous concrete pour will kick off Saturday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles with a parade featuring concrete trucks, members of the USC marching band, mayor Eric Garcetti and other elected officials. Local bars also plan to feature a drink dubbed “The Longest Pour.”

The procession is scheduled to begin just before 4 p.m. and last about 20 hours, said a spokesman for the New Wilshire Grand project, which is slated to rise 1,100 feet and become the tallest structure west of the Mississippi.

Developed by Korean Air and estimated to cost more than $1 billion, the New Wilshire Grand will feature five levels of underground parking, convention space, office suites and a 900-room hotel. The site was previously home to the 16-story Wilshire Grand Hotel.

Spectators are invited to gather near Figueroa Street and Wilshire Boulevard for the parade and then stay to watch the trucks hauling in nearly 84 million pounds of concrete that will be added to an 18-foot-deep pit that is about two-thirds the length of a football field.

More than 200 concrete trucks will make as many as 10 deliveries each to the site. The event is expected to take 20 hours and streets in the area will be closed to public traffic until 10 p.m. Sunday.

A Guinness World Records official will be on hand to verify that the continuous pour breaks the record set by the Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas. The New Wilshire Grand intends to beat that feat by a couple hundred cubic yards.

Those who want to make a toast to the event can check out any of the downtown bars owned by the 213 nightlife group and ask for a special created just for the weekend. “The Longest Pour” is a cocktail of Old Overholt rye whiskey, coffee liqueur, orange juice and lemon juice and garnished with salt and cinnamon.

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