KVLY-TV mast
| Piervito mast | |
|---|---|
 KVLY-TV mast | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | TV transmission tower |
| Location | Blanchard, Traill County, North Dakota |
| Coordinates | 47°20′32″N 97°17′21″W / 47.34222°N 97.28917°W |
| Completed | August 13, 1963 |
| Owner | Hoak Media |
| Height | 628.8 m (2,063 ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Hamilton Directors |
| Main contractor | Kline Iron and Steel |
The KVLY-TV mast (formerly the KTHI-TV mast) is a 628.8 m (2,063 ft) tall television-transmitting mast in Blanchard, Traill County, North Dakota, United States, used by Fargo station KVLY channel 11. Completed in 1963, it was the tallest structure ever built until succeeded by the Warsaw radio mast in 1970; that mast collapsed in 1991, making the KVLY-TV again the tallest structure in the world until the Burj Khalifa overtook it in 2008. It remains the second tallest structure in the world. It is a guyed mast, not a self-supporting structure, and is therefore not included in lists of tallest buildings. The height of the transmitting antenna itself is 113 feet and is included in the height of the tower as the lattice tower itself ends around 1950 feet. [1] The tower weighs 864,500 pounds altogether and takes up 160 acres of land with its guy anchors. [2] The 113' antenna alone weighs 9,000 pounds. [3] In 1989, daredevils climbed the tower and BASE jumped from it.[4]
Overview
The tower is located three miles west of Blanchard, North Dakota, halfway between Fargo and Grand Forks. It became the tallest artificial structure, and the first man made structure to exceed 2,000 feet in height, upon the completion of its construction on August 13, 1963.
The tower was built by Hamilton Electric Company of York, South Carolina and Kline Iron and Steel, and took thirty days to complete, at a cost of US$500,000.
Owned by Hoak Media of Dallas, Texas, the tower broadcasts at 365 kW for television station KVLY-TV (channel 11 PSIP, an NBC affiliate) which is based in Fargo. The tower provides a broadcast area of roughly 30,000 sq mi (78,000 km2) which is a radius of about 97 miles (156 kilometres).
Its height above mean sea level is 3,038 ft (926 m). Some time after its completion, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) imposed a policy that states, "Although there is no absolute height limit for antenna towers, both agencies have established a rebuttable presumption against structures over 2,000 feet above ground level."[5] The FCC and FAA may approve a taller structure in "exceptional cases."
When the mast was built the call letters of the television station for which it was built were changed to KTHI, the "HI" referring to the height of the mast. The top is reachable by a two-man service elevator or ladder.
Images
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KVLY tower from a distance of about one mile (1.6 km) -
Base of the tower
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A guy-wire anchor -
Detail of the tower, showing its network of guy-wires -
Structures of similar height
- KXJB Tower (2060 ft - 627.8 m)
- KXTV/KOVR Tower (2049 ft - 624.5 m)
See also
- List of masts
- Tallest structures in the U.S.
- List of the world's tallest structures
- Warsaw radio mast
References
External links
- KVLY Tower at Structurae
- Tower web page at KVLY-TV
- "Listing 1046244". Antenna Structure Registration database. U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
- Listing on the Skyscraper Page
- Drawings of KVLY/KTHI TV Mast from the Skyscraper Page
- KVLY and KXJB Towers from PBPhase.com
- Video of the KVLY Tower, summer 2009 from YouTube