Kiev TV Tower

Kiev Television Tower
Київська телевежа
General information
Status Complete
Type Steel lattice television tower
Location Kiev,  Ukraine
Coordinates 50°28′16″N 30°27′12″E / 50.47111°N 30.45333°ECoordinates: 50°28′16″N 30°27′12″E / 50.47111°N 30.45333°E
Construction started 1968
Completed 1973
Opening 1973
Height
Height 385 m (1,263 ft)
Antenna spire 385 m (1,263 ft)
Technical details
Lifts/elevators 2
Highlighting, at right Kiev TV Center.

The Kiev TV Tower (Ukrainian: Телевізійна вежа, Televiziyna vezha) is a 385 m-high (1,263 ft) lattice steel tower built in 1973 in Kiev, Ukraine, for radio and television broadcasting. It is the tallest freestanding lattice steel construction in the world.[1] The tower in Oranzhereina Street is not open to the public.

Construction began in 1968 and finished in 1973 at a cost of approximately $12 million. Made of steel pipe of various diameters and thicknesses, the structure weighs 2,700 tonnes. The central pipe, or core, where the elevator is located, is 4 metres in diameter and made of pipe that is 12 mm thick. It sits on a four-legged base that is about 100 metres tall. Atop the base is an enclosed level which houses microwave transmitting and receiving equipment. At about 200 metres is a second enclosed level that houses television and FM transmitters, as well as a control and maintenance shop. This second level is the elevator's terminus.

The tower is unique in that no mechanical fasteners such as rivets are used in the structure: every joint, pipe and fixture is attached by welding.[1]

The tower was first designed for Moscow, then the Soviet capital. But Moscow authorities preferred a more "solid" type of tower which was eventually built (Ostankino Tower). Later, when Kiev needed its own tower, the project was reintroduced. The Soviet government ordered the engineers to shorten the tower by almost 30%, so as not to be as tall as the Moscow one.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kiev TV Tower at Emporis Buildings database.
  2. ↑ В. Стах, "Викрадачі спокою наших осель", Україна Молода, #191, 14.10.2005 (in Ukrainian)
  3. ↑ І. Мащенко, "Гулівери земних споруд", Zerkalo Nedeli, #16 (340) 21-27.04.2001 (in Ukrainian)

External links