Standing on the freshly hardened concrete of the 91st floor of the Trump International Hotel & Tower, Joe Payne watched planes in the Chicago Air & Water Show fly beneath him and couldn't help but boast.

"Other people will pay good money for this view and I get it for free every day," said Payne, an assistant superintendent with McHugh Construction.

Behind Payne on Friday, several tradesmen completed construction of an elevator shaft, nicknamed "the penthouse," that will be the official top floor -- the 92nd -- of Chicago's second-tallest skyscraper. On Saturday, the roof of that structure was filled with the last of the nearly 180,000 cubic yards and 720 million pounds of concrete that support the largest concrete-reinforced building in North America.

Following tradition, the last portion of concrete was lifted 1,125 feet the old-fashioned way -- carried in a bucket with an American flag pinned to the bottom. The "topping off" ceremony, much quieter than the star-studded gala planned with the Trump family at the end of September, will be repeated Tuesday for the supervisors and engineers who oversaw the three-year construction project.