RADIO MASTS AND TOWERS

'Radio masts and towers' are, typically, tall structures designed to support antennas (also known as aerials in the UK) for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. They are among the tallest man-made structures. Similar structures include electricity pylons and towers for wind turbines.
Masts are sometimes named after the broadcasting organisations that use them, or after a nearby city or town.
The Warsaw Radio Mast (Warszawa radio maszt) was the world's tallest supported structure on land, but it collapsed in 1991, leaving the KVLY/KTHI-TV mast as the tallest.
In the case of a mast radiator or radiating tower, the whole mast or tower is itself the transmitting antenna.

Contents

Mast or tower?

Materials

Steel lattice

Tubular steel

Reinforced concrete

Fibreglass

Wood

Other types of antenna supports and structures

Poles

Buildings

Disguised cell-sites

Mast radiators

Telescopic, pump-up and tiltover towers

Balloons and kites

Other special structures

Design features

Economic and aesthetic considerations

Masts for HF/shortwave antennas

Access for riggers

Aircraft warning lamps

Wind-induced oscillations

Catastrophic collapses

Arranged by date

Arranged by height

See also

References

External links

Mast or tower?

The terms "mast" and "tower" are often used interchangeably. However:

★ In engineering terms, a tower is a self-supporting or cantilevered structure, while a mast is held up by stays or guys.

★ In colloquial American English, both types of structure are often called towers.

★ In colloquial British English, both types of structure are often called masts.
(This article reflects the engineers' distinction between the two.)
Masts tend to be cheaper to build, but because they require an extended area surrounding them to accommodate stay blocks, towers are more commonly used in cities where land is in short supply.
There are a few borderline designs which are partly free-standing and partly guyed. For example:

★ The Gerbrandy tower consists of a self-supporting tower with a guyed mast on top.

★ The few remaining Blaw-Knox Towers do the opposite: they have a guyed lower section surmounted by a freestanding part.

★ Zendstation Smilde a tall tower with a guyed mast on top (guys go to ground)

★ Torre de Collserola a guyed tower, with a guyed mast on top. (Tower portion is not free standing.)

Materials

Steel lattice

The steel lattice is the most widespread form of construction. It provides great strength, low wind resistance and economy in the use of materials. Such structures are usually triangular or square in cross-section.
When built as a stayed mast, usually the whole mast is parallel-sided. One exception is the Blaw-Knox type.
When built as a tower, the structure may be parallel-sided or taper over part or all of its height. When constructed of several sections which taper exponentially with height, in the manner of the Eiffel Tower, the tower is said to be an Eiffelized one. The Crystal Palace tower in London is an example.

Tubular steel

Some masts are constructed out of steel tubes. In the UK, these were the subject of collapses at the Emley Moor and Waltham TV stations in the 1960s.

Reinforced concrete

Reinforced concrete towers are relatively expensive to build but provide a high degree of mechanical rigidity in strong winds. This can be important when antennas with narrow beamwidths are used, such as those used for microwave point-to-point links, and when the structure is to be occupied by people.
In Germany and the Netherlands most towers constructed for point-to-point microwave links are built of reinforced concrete, while in the UK most are lattice towers.
Concrete towers can form prestigious landmarks, such as the CN Tower in Toronto. As well as accommodating technical staff, these buildings may have public areas such as observation decks or restaurants.
The Stuttgart TV tower was the first tower in the world to be built in reinforced concrete. It was designed in 1956 by the local civil engineer, Fritz Leonhardt.

Fibreglass

Fibreglass poles are occasionally used for low-power non-directional beacons or medium-wave broadcast transmitters.

Wood

There are fewer wooden towers now than in the past. Many were built in the UK during World War II because of a shortage of steel.
In Germany before World War II wooden towers were used at nearly all mediumwave transmission sites. These towers have been demolished, except for the transmitter Gliwice.
Ferryside Relay is an example of a TV relay transmitter using a wooden pole.

Other types of antenna supports and structures

Poles

Shorter masts may consist of a self-supporting or guyed wooden pole, similar to a telegraph pole. Sometimes self-supporting tubular galvanized steel poles are used: these may be termed monopoles.

Buildings

In some cases, it is possible to install transmitting antennas on the roofs of tall buildings. In North America, for instance, there are transmitting antennas on the Empire State Building, the Sears Tower, and formerly on the World Trade Center towers. When the buildings collapsed, several local TV and radio stations were knocked off the air until backup transmitters could be put into service.^[1] Such facilities also exist in Europe, particularly for portable radio services and low-power FM radio stations.

Disguised cell-sites

Many people view bare cell phone towers as ugly and an intrusion into their neighbourhoods. Even though people increasingly depend upon cellular communications, they hate the bare towers popping up across scenic views. Many companies offer to 'hide' cellphone towers as trees, church towers, flag poles, water tanks, etc.^[2] There are many providers that offer these services as part of the normal tower installation and maintenance service. These are generally called "stealth towers" or "stealth installations".
The level of detail and realism achieved by disguised cell phone towers is remarkably high; for example, such towers disguised as trees are nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, even for local wildlife (who additionally benefit from the faux flora^[3]) Such towers also have the added advantage of being able to be placed in national parks and other such protected places without being obtrusive, such as towers disguised as cacti in Coronado National Forest.^[4] Even when disguised, however, such towers can create controversy; such a tower doubling as a flagpole attracted controversy in 2004 in relation to the U.S. Presidential campaign of that year, and also highlighted the sentiment that such disguises serve more to allow the installation of such towers in subterfuge away from public scrutiny rather than to serve towards the beautification of the landscape.^[5]

Mast radiators

A mast radiator is a radio tower or mast in which the whole structure works as an antenna. It is used frequently as a transmitting antenna for long or medium wave broadcasting.
Structurally, the only difference is that a mast radiator may be supported on an insulator at its base. In the case of a tower, there will be one insulator supporting each leg.
Technical details are outside the scope of this article and can be found on the mast radiator page.

Telescopic, pump-up and tiltover towers

A special form of the radio tower is the ''telescopic mast''. These can be erected very quickly. Telescopic masts are used predominantly in setting up temporary radio links for reporting on major news events, and for temporary communications in emergencies. They are also used in tactical military networks.
Telescopic masts consist of two or more concentric sections and come in two principal types:

★ Pump-up masts are often used on vehicles and are raised to their full height pneumatically or hydraulically. They are usually only strong enough to support fairly small antennas.

★ Telescopic lattice masts are raised by means of a winch, which may be powered by hand or an electric motor. These tend to cater for greater heights and loads than the pump-up type. When retracted, the whole assembly can sometimes be lowered to a horizontal position by means of a second tiltover winch. This enables antennas to be fitted and adjusted at ground level before winching the mast up.

Balloons and kites

A tethered balloon or a kite can serve as a temporary support. It can carry an antenna or a wire (for VLF, LW or MW) up to an appropriate height. Such an arrangement is used occasionally by military agencies or radio amateurs. The American broadcasters TV Martí broadcast a television program to Cuba by means of such a balloon. A captive balloon was also used for the British GQV experimental transmitter in 2003.

Other special structures

For two VLF transmitters wire antennas spun across deep valleys are used. The wires are supported by small masts or towers or rock anchors. See List of spans: Antenna spans across valleys. The same technique was also used for the Criggion VLF transmitter.
For ELF-transmitters ground dipole antennas are used. Such structures require no tall masts. They consist of two electrodes buried deep in the ground at least a few dozen kilometres apart. From the transmitter building to the electrodes overhead feeder lines run. These lines look like powerlines of the 10 kV level and are installed on similar pylons.

Design features

Economic and aesthetic considerations

★ The cost of a mast or tower is roughly proportional to the square of its height.

★ A guyed mast is cheaper to build than a self-supporting tower of equivalent height.

★ A guyed mast needs additional land to accommodate the guys, and is thus best suited to rural locations where land is relatively cheap. A tower will fit into a much smaller plot.

★ A steel lattice tower is cheaper to build than a concrete tower of equivalent height.

★ Two small towers may be less intrusive, visually, than one big one; especially if they look identical.

★ Towers look less ugly if they and the antennas mounted on them appear symmetrical.

★ Concrete towers can be built with aesthetic design - and they are, especially in Continental Europe. They are sometimes built in prominent places and include observation decks or restaurants.

Masts for HF/shortwave antennas

For transmissions in the shortwave range, there is little to be gained by raising the antenna more than a few wavelengths above ground level. Shortwave transmitters rarely use masts taller than about 100 metres.

Access for riggers

Because masts, towers and the antennas mounted on them require maintenance, access to the whole of the structure is necessary. Small structures are typically accessed with a ladder. Larger structures, which tend to require more frequent maintenance, may have stairs and sometimes a lift.

Aircraft warning lamps

Taller structures are often equipped with aircraft warning lamps, usually red in colour, to warn pilots of the structure's existence. In the past, ruggedized and under-run filament lamps were used to maximise the bulb life. Nowadays such lamps tend to use LED arrays.

Wind-induced oscillations

One problem with radio masts is the danger of wind-induced oscillations. This is particularly a concern with steel tube construction. One can reduce this by building cylindrical shock-mounts into the construction. One finds such shock-mounts, which look like cylinders thicker than the mast, for example at the radio masts of DHO38 in Saterland. There are also constructions, which consist of a free standing tower (usually from reinforced concrete), onto which a guyed radio mast is installed. The most well-known such construction is the Gerbrandy Tower in Lopik (the Netherlands). Further towers of this building method can be found near Smilde (the Netherlands) and Waldenburg (Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany).

Catastrophic collapses

Arranged by date

Masts and towers can collapse due to natural disasters, such as storms and fires; from engineering defects; and from accidents or sabotage. Here is a list of such incidents by date:

Location	Date	Mode of construction	Height	Reason for collapse	Remarks
Nauen, Germany	March 30, 1912	Guyed steel lattice mast	200 m	Storm
Java, Netherlands East Indies	1923	?	?	Lightning
Norddeich, Germany	November 25, 1925	Guyed steel lattice mast	?	Storm	Three towers collapsed
Place of Magdeburg Transmitter, Berlin, Germany	July 1926	Guyed mast on roof top	?	Through rusted guy
Western mast of Zeesen transmitter, Zeesen, Germany	1927	Guyed steel lattice mast	210 m	Collapse at construction
Munich-Stadelheim, Germany	November 23, 1930	Free standing wood lattice tower	75 m	Storm	Two towers snapped of 25 metres above ground
Langenberg, Germany	October 10, 1935	Free standing wood lattice tower	150 m	Tornado	replaced by triangle antenna
Utbremen Radio Tower	193?/194?	Free standing wood lattice tower	90 m	Lightning	replaced by steel tower
Langenberg, Germany	1949	Guyed steel tube mast	51 m	storm	2 masts of a triangle aerial
Schwerin-Möwenburgstrasse transmitter, Schwerin, Germany	February 10th, 1949	Guyed steel lattice mast	120 m	storm
Hamburg-Billwerder, Germany	December 1949	Guyed steel lattice mast	198 m	storm	Partially destrucion of a guyed mast under construction
Nicosia, Cyprus	1955			sabotage	Destroyed by rebels of EOKA
WOAI, Selma (San Antonio), USA	1957/1958	Guyed steel lattice mast	50 m	Aircraft collision
Ochsenkopf, Germany	January, 1958	Guyed steel tube mast	50 m	Icing	Replaced by concrete tower
LORAN-C transmitter Carolina Beach, Carolina Beach, USA	1961	Lattice Tower	190,5 m	Storm	Tower buckled at 2/3 of height. Tower carried radials on its top although it was not designed for.
Villebon sur Yvette, France	December 10, 1961	Guyed steel lattice mast	?	Terrorism
LORAN-C transmitter Ejde, Ejde, Faroer	1962	Guyed steel lattice mast	190.5 m	Material fault	Slip of guy
Angissq LORAN-C transmitter, Angissq, Greenland	July 27, 1964	Guyed steel lattice mast	411.48 m	Material fault	Replaced by 704 ft (214 m) tall mast radiator
Yap LORAN-C transmitter, Yap Island, Micronesia	1964	Guyed steel lattice mast	304.8 m	Collapsed during construction
Iwo Jima LORAN-C transmitter, Japan	1965	Guyed steel lattice mast	411.48 m	Maintenance work	The collapsing mast destroyed also the transmitter building. 6 persons were killed.
KXJB-TV mast, North Dakota, USA	February 14, 1966	Guyed steel lattice mast	627.89 m	Helicopter collision
WLBT TV Tower, Raymond, MS USA	March 3, 1966	Guyed steel lattice	487.6 m	F5 Tornado	Replaced with 609.3 m tower which collapsed in 1997
WNBC/WCBS-Tower, High Island, New York, USA	August 27, 1967	Guyed lattice steel mast	161 m	Aircraft collision
Waltham mast, UK	1967	Guyed tubular steel mast	290 m	Storm: high winds causing oscillations in the mast structure
KELO TV Tower, Rowena, South Dakota, USA	1968	Guyed steel lattice mast	609.6 m	Airplane collision
WAEO Tower, Starks, Wisconsin, USA	November 17, 1968	Guyed steel lattice mast	524.25 m	collapse due to plane collision with guy wire
Marnach, Luxemburg	January 17, 1969	?	?	?
Emley Moor, Great Britain	March 19, 1969	Guyed tubular steel mast	385 m	Ice	Replaced by 330.4 m free-standing concrete tower
Orlunda, Sweden	1970	Guyed steel lattice mast	250 m	Lightning (Destruction of basement insulator)
KOIN-TV Transmitter Towers, Portland, Oregon, USA	February 28, 1971	Guyed steel lattice mast	304.8 m + 213.4 m	Icing	Two Towers collapsed
Königswusterhausen, Germany	November 15, 1972	Lattice steel tower	243 m	storm
Bithlo (near Orlando), Florida	June 8, 1973	Guyed Steel Tower	457.2 m	Collapsed because of removal of load bearing diagonals during FM antenna installation.	Multi-station tower supporting antennas of TV stations WDBO-TV, WFTV, and WMFE-TV, and radio stations WDBO-FM and WDIZ-FM -- two workers on tower killed
?, City of Kennett	1973	?	21.33 m	?
TV Mast Brest - Roc Trédudon	February 1974	Guyed steel lattice mast	?	Terrorism
KELO TV Tower, Rowena, South Dakota, USA	1975	Guyed steel lattice mast	609.6 m	Blizzard
Sendemast SL3, Burg bei Magdeburg, Germany	February 18, 1976	Guyed steel lattice mast	350 m	Material fault
KSLA-TV Tower, USA	1977	Guyed steel lattice mast	521 m	?
WJJY TV Mast, Bluffs, IL USA	March 26, 1978 (Easter Sunday)	Guyed steel lattice mast	491 m	Ice - The strain snapped 2-inch coupling bolts (24 of them) that joined the 2nd and 3rd sections.	In August 1969 - This tower was 1 of 3 tallest structures in the Northern Hemisphere and transmitter radiated the most powerful UHF-TV signal in the world. TV channel 14 (470-476 MHz)
Wand TV Tower Decatur, Decatur, IL USA	March 26, 1978 (Easter Sunday)	Guyed steel lattice mast	400.5 m	Ice - Same ice storm that toppled WJJY. Upper section of antenna broke loose and fell through the guy wires.	WAND and WJJY used the same RCA UHF antennas, mfg in 1969. TV channel 17 (488-494 MHz)
Nebraska Education Tower Angora, USA	February 1978	Guyed steel lattice mast	456.9 m	Ice
Zehlendorf bei Oranienburg, Germany	May 21, 1978	Guyed steel lattice mast	352 m	Aircraft collision
CKVR Television Tower, Barrie, Ontario, Canada	1978	?	65.58 m	Aircraft collision
Vysílač Krašov, Bezvěrov, Czech	1979	Guyed Mast of lattice steel	305 m	Icing	Mast was predamaged
LORAN-C transmitter Jan Mayen, Jan Mayen, Norway	October 8, 1980	Guyed Mast of lattice steel	190.5 m	Icing	Guys were inproperly installed
Dudelange Radio Tower	July 31, 1981	Lattice steel tower	285 m	Aircraft collision
?, USA	1982	Guyed steel lattice mast	305 m	?
WCIQ Tower, Mount Cheaha, Alabama, USA	January 1982	Guyed steel lattice mast	?	Ice Storm
Senior Road Tower, Missouri City, Texas, USA	1982	Guyed steel lattice mast	569.8 m	Guy wire severed	Total collapse during installation of 6 Ton FM antenna on new 1800 ft. tower. 5 technicians killed, 3 on the hoist and 2 on the tower. Determined insufficient sized bolts on the make-shift lifting lug extension failed. The falling debris severed one of the tower's guy wires which caused the tower to whip back and forth and collapse.
TV mast Wavre, Belgium	October 13, 1983	Guyed mast	?	Storm
KWWL, Rowley, Iowa, USA	November 28, 1983	Guyed steel lattice mast	610 m	Ice
Bielstein, Germany	January 15, 1985	Guyed steel tube mast	298 m	Ice
Caroline 558 & Radio Monique mast, aboard MV Ross Revenge, off English coast	November 25, 1987	Lattice steel tower	92 m approx	Force 8 storm	Tallest ever mast aboard any ship; replaced by horizontal wire antenna between two shorter masts
KTVO-TV Tower, Missouri, USA	June 2, 1988	Guyed steel lattice mast	609.6 m
KGO (AM) towers, Newark, California, USA	October 17, 1989	?	91 m	Earthquake	Three towers damaged
WRAL-TV & WPTF-TV towers, Auburn, North Carolina, USA	December, 1989	2 Guyed steel tube framework mast	609.3 m	Ice	Unusually heavy ice concentrated at top predominantly on one side of towers caused unsymmetrical load. Dislodged essentially as one piece during rapid warming; sudden unloading caused dynamic failure.
Konstantynow, Poland	August 8, 1991	Guyed steel tube framework mast	648.38 m	Maintenance	Replacement by facility in Solec Kujawski
WCIX TV Tower Homestead (Miami) Florida	August 25, 1992	Guyed steel tower	549 m	Hurricane Andrew	Rebuilt by LeBlanc Tower of Canada
COMMSTA Miami	1992	Guyed Mast (insulated)	91.44 m	Hurricane Andrew	Collapse of 2 masts
Cape Race LORAN-C transmitter, Cape Race, Canada	February 2, 1993	Guyed steel lattice mast	411.48 m	Material Fault	Fatigue failure of the eyebolt head in a compression cone insulator on structural guy caused swing-in damage, which resulted in structural collapse
LORAN-C transmitter Kargaburan, Kargaburan, Turkey	February 25, 1993	Guyed steel lattice mast	190.5 m	Snowstorm	Tower had constructive faults
WCOV-TV Tower, Montgomery, USA	1996	?	242 m	Tornado
Langenberg, Germany	September 2, 1996	Guyed steel lattice mast	160 m	Maintenance
Channel 39 KXTX TV-Mast, Cedar Hill, Texas, USA	October 12, 1996	Guyed steel tower	468 m	Maintenance	3 died when tower collapsed in moderate wind gust
?, USA	December 31, 1996	?	195,1 m	material fault
KXJB-TV mast, North Dakota, USA	April 6, 1997	Guyed steel lattice mast	627.89 m	Ice
KNOE-TV Tower, Louisiana, USA	March 20 1997	Guyed steel lattice mast	606.25 m	Maintenance	One killed, 2 injured when workers failed to install temporary braces
WLBT-TV Tower, Mississippi, USA	October 23 1997	Guyed steel lattice	609,3 m	Maintenance	Three killed - temporary braces failed during HDTV antenna upgrade
WKY Mast, USA	June 13 1998	Guyed mast	292.9 m	Tornado
TV Tower Avala, Serbien	April 30 1999	Concrete tower (with observation deck)	202.87 m
WRMD-Tower, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA	April 25, 2000	Guyed steel lattice mast	197.8 m	Helicopter crash	3 die when medical helicopter hits guy wire in clear weather and crashes
WNWI 1080-Towers, Oak Lawn (Chicago), Illinois, USA	July 9 2000	Guyed steel lattice mast	61 m	Sabotage	Two towers collapsed
KXEO/KWWR-Tower, Mexico, MO, USA	August 23 2000	Guyed steel lattice mast	122,8 m	Storm
CBC Tower, Canada	April 22 2001	Guyed steel lattice mast	371 m	Blown up after aircraft crash
KDUH/CH4 TV Mast, Hemingford, Nebraska, USA	September 24 2002	Guyed steel lattice mast	599 m	Maintenance	Two workers killed, 3 injured on ground
WVAH Tower, West Virginia, USA	February 19 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	473 m	Ice
WPAY (AM)-Towert, Portsmouth, Ohio, USA	February 19 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	200,9 m	Ice
WTNV-FM Tower, Jackson, Tennessee, USA	May 4 2003	Free standing steel lattice tower	176.7 m	Tornado
WMBD Tower, Peoria, Illinois, USA	May 10 2003	Free standing steel lattice tower	?	Tornado	Collapse of 3 towers
KETV TV Tower	July, 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	415.1 m	Reconstruction work
WIFR TV tower	July 5 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	222.8 m	Storm (derecho)
WAAY-TV - TV Mast, Huntsville, Alabama, USA	September 4 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	305 m	unknown	3 workers killed
Utrecht, Netherlands	September 8, 2003	Guyed steel lattice mast	45 m	Fallen at falling trees
Peterborough, Great Britain	October 30, 2004	Guyed steel lattice mast	163 m	Fire
KFI Mast, Los Angeles, USA	December 19, 2004	Guyed steel lattice mast	195.1 m	Aircraft collision
WLGA Transmitter Tower (formerly WSWS-TV Transmitter Tower), Cusseta, Georgia, USA	February 27, 2005	Guyed steel lattice mast	538.3 m		Replacement tower completed September 15, 2005.
Nebraska Education Tower Atlanta, Atlanta, Nebraska, USA	November 25, 2005	Guyed steel lattice mast	324.8 m	Aircraft collision	All three aircraft occupants killed
WSKY-DT Tower, Camden County, NC, USA	March 2, 2007	Guyed steel lattice mast	230.65 m	Guy wire anchor failure	Under construction. Also destroyed transmitter building. Was planned for a height of 1,036 ft (315.77 m).[6]

Arranged by height

This table is arranged by height:

Name	Pinnacle height		Year	Country	Town	Remarks
Warsaw Radio Mast	2121 ft	646.4 m	1972-1974	Poland	Gabin-Konstantynów, Masovian Voivodeship	collapsed on August 8, 1991 during guy wire exchange, insulated against ground
WCIX/CH6 TV Mast	2000 ft	609.6 m	1992	U.S.	Homestead, Florida	collapsed during Hurricane Andrew in 1992
KHYS Tower[7]	1992 ft	607.2 m	1997	U.S.	Devers, Texas	dismantled
KDUH/CH4 TV Mast[8]	1969 ft	599 m	1969	U.S.	Hemingford, Nebraska	collapsed on September 24, 2003
Capitol Broadcasting Tower Broadway[9]	1749 ft	533.1 m	1985	U.S.	Broadway, North Carolina	dismantled
WAEO Tower	1720 ft	524.25 m	1966	U.S.	Starks, Wisconsin	collapse due to plane collision with guy wire on November 17, 1968 (NTSB incident CHI69A0053)[10]
KDEB Tower[11]	1627 ft	496 m	1968	U.S.	Fordland, Missouri	also known as American Towers Tower Fordland, dismantled
WJJY TV Mast	1611 ft	491 m		U.S.	Bluffs, Illinois	collapsed in 1978
DBA Tower[12]	1577 ft	482.2 m	1997	U.S.	Cedar Hill, Texas	dismantled
WVAH Tower[13]	1551 ft	473m	1980	U.S.	Scott Depot, West Virginia	destroyed on February 19, 2003
Nebraska Education Tower Angora[14]	1,499 ft	456.9 m	1966-1978	U.S.	Angora, Nebraska	collapsed in February 1978
Pinnacle Towers Tower La Feria[15]	1501 ft	454.8 m	1981	U.S.	La Feria, Texas	dismantled
OMEGA transmitter Chabrier	1403 ft	428 m	1976	France (Réunion)	Chabrier, Réunion	demolished on April 14th, 1999
KETV TV Tower	1329 ft	415.1 m	1966-2003	U.S.	Omaha, Nebraska	collapsed
Angissq LORAN-C transmitter (old mast)	1350 ft	411.48 m	1963	Denmark, Greenland	Angissq	collapsed on July 27th, 1964
Marcus Island LORAN-C transmitter (old mast)	1350 ft	411.48 m	1964	Japan	Markus Island	dismantled in 1985
Iwo Jima LORAN-C transmitter	1350 ft	411.48 m	1963/1965	Japan	Iwo Jima	destroyed in 1965, afterwards rebuilt, rebuilt mast dismantled in 1993
Cape Race LORAN-C transmitter (old mast)	1350 ft	411.48 m	1965	Canada	Cape Race	collapsed on February 2nd, 1993
American Tower Newton	1349 ft	411.2 m	?	U.S.	Newton, Massachusetts	dismantled
South Carolina Educational TV Tower[16]	1329 ft	401.7 m	1975	U.S.	Green Pond, South Carolina	dismantled
Wand TV Tower Decatur	1314 ft	400.5 m	?	U.S.	Decatur, Illinois	collapsed on March 26th, 1978
KXAN TV Tower (Old)[17]	1299 ft	395.9 m	1964	U.S.	Austin, Texas	dismantled
Forestport Tower	1280 ft	390.1 m	1950	U.S.	Forestport, New York	demolished on April 21st, 1998 by explosives
Emley Moor Mk. 2	1265 ft	385 m	1964	UK	Emley Moor, West Yorkshire	destroyed on March 19, 1969
CBC Tower	1217 ft	371 m	1972	Canada	Shawinigan, Quebec	demolished after plane crash
Omega Tower Trelew	1201 ft	366 m	1976	Argentina	Golfo Nuevo	demolished
NSS Annapolis	1200 ft	365.8 m + 243.8 m		U.S.	Annapolis, Maryland	365.8 m high mast insulated against ground, demolished
South Carolina Educational TV tower Sumter	1194 ft	363.3 m	1975	U.S.	Sumter, South Carolina	dismantled
KPXE Tower[18]	1164 ft	354.8 m	1978	U.S.	Kansas City, Missouri	dismantled
Sender Zehlendorf (old longwave transmission mast)	1180 ft	351 m	1962	Germany	Zehlendorf bei Oranienburg, Brandenburg	destroyed on May 18th, 1978 at aircraft collision
Sendemast SL3	1149 ft	350 m	1968	East Germany	Burg bei Magdeburg (today in Saxony-Anhalt)	collapsed on February 18, 1976
Grant Radio Tower Carrolton[19]	1123 ft	342.6 m	1987	U.S.	Carrollton, Alabama	dismantled
Deutschlandsender Herzberg/Elster	1108 ft	337 m	1939	Germany	Herzberg	insulated against ground, dismantled
RFM TV Tower Fort Worth[20]	1098 ft	334.7 m	1988	U.S.	Fort Worth, Texas	dismantled
Gray Television Madison Tower[21]	1080 ft	334.4 m	1993	U.S.	Madison, Wisconsin	dismantled
Gray TV Tower Lorena[22]	1080 ft	329.2 m	1962	U.S.	Lorena, Texas	dismantled
Nebraska Education Tower Atlanta	1065 ft	324.8 m	1965	U.S.	Atlanta, Nebraska	destroyed at aircraft collision
Vysílač Krašov (old mast)	1058 ft	324 m	1959/60	Czech Republic	near Bezvěrov	collapsed in 1979
South Texas Broadcasting Tower Loganville[23]	1032 ft	319.7 m	1989	U.S.	Loganville, Georgia	dismantled
Putlitzer Broadcasting Artesia Tower[24]	1149 ft	319 m	1965	U.S.	Artesia, New Mexico	dismantled
JCORP-Tower[25]	1149 ft	317.9 m	1978	U.S.	Bartlett, Tennessee	dismantled
Pinnacle Tower Hollywood[26]	1149 ft	317.4 m	1989	U.S.	Hollywood, Florida	dismantled
University of North Carolina Columbia Tower[27]	1080 ft	317 m	1964	U.S.	Columbia, North Carolina	dismantled
RTM Tower	~1040 ft	~317 m	1966	Malaysia	Johor Bahru	dismantled
WPTV TV-Tower[28]	1149 ft	314.2 m	1963	U.S.	Greenacres, Florida	dismantled
WAWS TV-Tower[29]	1149 ft	313,5 m	1980	U.S.	Greenacres, Florida	dismantled
WorldCom Tower Petal[30]	1058 ft	313 m	1996	U.S.	Petal, Mississippi	dismantled
WVEC TV Tower[31]	1024 ft	312 m	1995	U.S.	Suffolk, Virginia	dismantled
Paxon Tower Felsmere[32]	1023 ft	311.7 m	1984	U.S.	Felsmere, Florida	dismantled
Union Pacific Railroad Tower Chicago[33]	1021 ft	311.2 m	1987	U.S.	Chicago, Illinois	dismantled
Nextel Onondaga Tower[34]	1149 ft	307 m	1994	U.S.	Onondaga, Michigan	dismantled
Transmitter Kojál (old mast)		305 m	1959/60	Czech Republic	near Krásensko	demolished in 1985
Cox Radio Tower Sheppard[35]	1000 ft	305 m	1992	U.S.	Sheppard, Texas	dismantled
WAAY-TV TV Tower[36]	1000 ft	304.8 m	2003	U.S.	Huntsville, AL	3 workers killed in collapse
Yap LORAN-C transmitter	1000 ft	304.8 m	1964	Federated States of Micronesia	Yap Island	dismantled in 1987
Century Cellunet Tower[37]	1149 ft	304.8 m	1994	U.S.	Kingsley, Michigan	dismantled
CKVR Television Tower	1000 ft	304.8 m	1978	Canada	Barrie, Ontario	rebuilt 1978, plane crash destroyed previous mast
South Carolina Educational TV Tower Columbia[38]	1000 ft	304.8 m	1966	U.S.	Columbia, South Carolina	dismantled
Raycom Tower Doerun[39]	1000 ft	304.8 m	1980	U.S.	Doerun, Georgia	dismantled
KTRK-TV Tower Shepard[40]	1000 ft	304.8 m	1998	U.S.	Shepard, Texas	dismantled
Chevron Tower Cedar Hill[41]	1000 ft	304 m	1973	U.S.	Cedar Hill, Texas	dismantled
MCI Tower Houston[42]	1000 ft	300.2 m	1993	U.S.	Houston, Texas	dismantled

See also

★ Lattice tower (also lists radio towers built of wood)

★ Mast radiator

★ Tower array

★ Targeting Towers

★ Telecom Infrastructure Sharing

References

1. ''Some New York City TV and Radio Stations Off The Air After World Trade Center Collapse''
2. http://www.ece.uncc.edu/research/clean_room/engr1202/celltowers.html
3. http://waynesword.palomar.edu/faketree.htm
4. http://www.marlaine.com/personal/Tucson/SabinoCanyon/Sabino.htm
5. http://www.lightwatcher.com/culturejam/stealth_towers.html
6. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6423295.html
7. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=615115
8. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=127337
9. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=98284
10. http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=9833&key=0
11. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=111559
12. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=104929GBC
13. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=598967
14. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=129998
15. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=612501
16. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=624609
17. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=105781
18. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=624291
19. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=607849
20. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=105542
21. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=602155
22. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=608734
23. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=607663
24. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=108903
25. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=613772
26. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=130334
27. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=117703
28. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=130812
29. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=597299
30. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=1097635
31. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=115383
32. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=621992
33. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=98676
34. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=107587
35. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=104566
36. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=604482
37. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=101069
38. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=624601
39. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=114319
40. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=615118
41. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=128413
42. http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=614275

External links

★ All US Towers over 200 feet, transmitting on certain frequencies, or have certain transmitters over a certain power, must be registered in the US. This is the online directory.

★ The Transmission Gallery: Broadcast Transmission Sites in the UK

★ The Transmission Gallery: Constructing Stayed Masts

★ Scott Fybush, an international tower photographer who has documented 1000s of towers in his travels

★ Tom Bosscher of Western Michigan's website on towers of Michigan

★ Mike Fitzpatrick's New England NECRAT.COM based tower website contains tower pictures beyond New England but specializes in FM & TV antenna photos

★ French towers (in French)

★ The Legal Landscape When a Tower Collapses

★ Richard Moore's Anorak Zone Photo Gallery of UK TV and Radio transmission sites