Television and communication towers are used for the transmission of:
- radio and television programs.
- telephone calls.
- telegrams and telexes.
- special information, e.g. for navigation.
Whereas until the mid-1950’s, telecommunication towers were normally built as stayed steel lattice towers, currently almost all television towers and communication towers are designed as free standing concrete towers. For the transmission of television or ultra-short waves, a visual contact between the antennae is required; hence in several countries “streets” of telecommunication towers exist with standard towers at intermediate points, and special towers at the intersection of such “streets”. The special towers are often built near important cities, and then are provided with public installations such as restaurants and lookout platforms. The successful development of these concrete towers started in 1954, when Professor Leonhardt succeeded in convincing the Stuttgart town council and the local broadcasting and television company to build, on top of one of the hills surrounding Stuttgart, a concrete tower rather than a steel lattice tower. Since then, Leonhardt, Andrä and Partners have designed approximately 80% of all special and standard towers in West Germany, mainly for the Deutsche Bundespost.
References: Leonhardt, Andrä and Partners: Pamphlet “Towers”. Leonhardt, F.: “Modern Design of Television Towers,” Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers 46, London, (1970), pp 264-291. Schlaich, J. and Leonhardt, F.: “Zur konstruktiven Entwicklung der Fernmeldetürme in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (On the Structural Development of Television Towers in the German Federal Republic),” Jahrbuch des elektrischen Fernmeldewesens 1974, pp 65-105. |
