The Warsaw radio mast was not just a transmitting device, but was for about 17 years the tallest building in the world. It was a design that all of Poland was proud of. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever, but the fall of this structure came as a surprise to everyone. Why did the Warsaw radio mast collapse, how was it built and operated? Let's find out the answers to these questions.
Reason for construction
The construction of a new radio tower was carried out so that the Polish radio could broadcast confidently on the territory of Poland, as well as other European countries. To achieve the most optimal effect, it was necessary to build the highest possible structure. The current main broadcasting tower in Poland, near Warsaw, was 335 m high. A much taller structure had to be built.
The construction plan was developed by the famous architect Jan Polyak. According to him, the building was supposed to have a height of 646.4 m, which is almost twice as high as the station that existed until then. The Warsaw radio mast was supposed to be located near the village of Konstantinov in the Plock district of the Masovian Voivodeship, which is 84 km towest of the capital.
Building process
The construction of the Warsaw radio tower began in January 1970. The construction, which was directed by engineer Andrzej Shepchinsky, was attended mainly by Polish employees of the Mostostal enterprise and other local organizations. But the main part of the design - two transmitters - was built by the Swiss company Brown, Boveri & Cie. The elevator was built by the Swedish company Alimak.
Finally, on May 18, 1974, after more than four years of work, the construction of the radio tower was completed and it was put into operation on June 22.
Main Specifications
Now let's take a look at the main technical characteristics of the Warsaw radio mast. So what was the design?
The height of the Warsaw radio mast was 646.4 m. This made it at that time the tallest building ever built in the world. The total weight of the structure was 420 tons. The base of the structure and its section were in the form of a triangle, the sides of which are 4.8 m. The caracas of the structure was made up of steel pipes with a diameter of 24.5 cm.
The structure was not a solid structure, but a structure consisting of 86 parts. Each part had a height of 7.5 m. The stability of the structure was ensured by three braces in the form of steel insulated cables with a diameter of 5 cm each. The total weight of these guys was 80,000 kg.
In addition, the building had an elevator, which was specially made by the SwedishAlimac company. He developed a speed of 21 m / min. In order to rise from the base of the structure to its top, it took about half an hour. However, if desired, it was possible to climb with the help of ordinary stairs.
Transmission substation
The substation, where the transmitting part of the structure was located, was located 600 meters from the radio mast in a closed building, which had a volume of 17 thousand cubic meters. m. It was here that the heart of the whole structure was located - two transmitters made by a Swiss company Brown, Boveri & Cie. Each of them had a capacity of 1 MW. In order to synchronize the frequency of both transmitters as accurately as possible, atomic clocks were used.
A separate power plant was built to power the transmitters, which consumed 6 MW of electricity.
Radio Mast Operation
Warsaw radio mast received the official name "Broadcasting Center in Konstantinov". It was designed to transmit radio signals over long distances. She successfully coped with this task for 17 years. With her signal, she covered not only the territory of Poland, but also the whole of Europe. Polish radio could be heard even in North Africa and North America.
The uniqueness of the design was that it was the world's only half-wave radio tower for long waves. Actually, no similar devices have been installed since then.
The radio tower was used by the Warsaw State Television and Radio Company. With the help of this construction, it was broadcast"The first program of the Polish Radio", or in other words - "Program 1 PR". Its unofficial name was - "One".
Structure collapse
It was a complete surprise for everyone that the Warsaw radio mast fell down. The collapse occurred in the first half of August 1991. It happened while replacing one of the guys. The structure skewed, the steel pipes moved from the set point, the radio station bent, and then it was destroyed right in the middle. At the same time, the upper part fell near the base, and the lower half fell in the opposite direction. This version is fully confirmed by the architect of the building Jan Polyak.
The collapse of the giant structure was without tragedy, there were no casu alties among the people.
Causes of the crash
What are the reasons why the Warsaw radio mast collapsed? The fall of the structure is no doubt the result of a mistake made by the workers when replacing the brace. All conditions were not properly met to ensure complete safety. Experts felt the approved guy replacement plan was sufficient to ensure everything went smoothly.
Another reason for the crash is that the structure is too large. It was they who made it difficult to safely change the quickdraws.
The further fate of the radio mast
However, the Polish government was not going to put an end to the radio mast. No one thought that after the fall, thisthe building will never be restored. Immediately, the engineers were entrusted with a plan to restore the structure, which by that time, due to being in a supine position, had managed to acquire the playful nickname of “the longest tower on Earth” among the people. As early as April 1992, a recovery plan was ready.
Restoration work itself began in 1995. But here on the way to the goal there was an obstacle that no one even thought about. And it was not at all related to the sphere of financial security or the issue of permits. Residents of the village of Konstantinov, located very close, opposed the construction of the structure. They argued that the radiation caused by the operation of the radio tower had a negative impact on the he alth of the villagers, in particular causing headaches and other types of ailments. It was also claimed that during the few years that the station was not functioning, the villagers began to feel much better. As a result of these protests, the project to rebuild the Warsaw radio tower had to be permanently closed.
Since August 1991, the Warsaw State Television and Radio Company has returned to the operation of the old 335-meter mast for broadcasting purposes. Of course, this significantly narrowed its technical capabilities and coverage area. Until 1995, there was a glimmer of hope that the Warsaw radio mast could be restored. The radio company then had to accept that this would never happen.
The place of the Warsaw radio mast among other tallest structures on Earth
As mentioned above, for about 17 years (from 1974 to 1991) the Warsaw radio mast was the higheststructure on Earth, having a height of 646.4 meters. Until 1974, the KVLY television and radio mast, located in the city of Blanchard, in the US state of North Dakota, held the championship among the tallest structures. The height of this building is 628.8 meters.
As you can see, the height of the Warsaw mast turned out to be less than eighteen meters more, which is not so much for buildings of this magnitude. This fact gives rise to the conjecture that such a high radio tower in Poland was built not least in order to break the KVLY record. In this case, the height of the mast was justified not so much by practical necessity as by a vain desire to become the first. Actually, as we found out earlier, the size of the Warsaw radio mast served as one of the reasons for its collapse. Thus, as always, the desire for glory leads to disaster.
When compared with other large buildings, the tallest TV tower in the world - Ostankino - was more than 100 meters behind the Warsaw radio mast in height and had a size of 540 m. True, in 1976 CNN became the tallest TV tower Tower, in the Canadian city of Toronto, with a height of 553 m, but still it was 93 meters less than the radio tower in Poland. To date, the tallest TV tower in the world is Tokyo Skytree, built in the Japanese capital of Tokyo in 2012, however, with a height of 634 meters, it is inferior to the crushed Polish giant by about 12 meters.
The tallest skyscrapers of the time - the Willis Tower built in Chicago in 1973, the New York World Trade Center (1973) and the Empire State Building (1931)had a height of 443.2 m, 417 m and 381 m, respectively, which is again much less than the length of the Warsaw radio mast.
After the collapse of the structure in Konstantinov, the palm among the tallest structures in the world returned to KVLY again. But the American mast could not take away the title of the highest ever existing structure. The already crushed Warsaw radio mast held the title until 2008, when the Burj Khalifa skyscraper was built in Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates. This building has a height of 828 meters, that is, as much as 182 meters more than the height of the Warsaw giant was. To this day, the Burj Khalifa remains the tallest building and structure ever built by man.
General characteristics of the Warsaw radio mast
At one time, the Warsaw radio mast was the tallest building in the world (646.4 m). However, perhaps this was precisely the goal of the engineers during its construction, and not the practical tasks of improving the quality of broadcasting and increasing the coverage area. It was the large size of the mast that caused its collapse.
And what do we have in the bottom line? The structure has been in ruins for decades, and the title of the tallest structure of all time was lost in 2008. Already, few people remember this gigantic building, but in time even fewer people will remember it, until the building becomes only the property of statistical reference books.
