KVLY-TV mast

The KVLY-TV mast (formerly the KTHI-TV mast) is a 2,063-foot-tall (629 m) television-transmitting mast in Blanchard, North Dakota. It is used by Fargo station KVLY-TV channel 11.

KVLY-TV mast
KVLY-TV mast in 2018
Location within North Dakota
General information
TypeTV transmission tower (effective radiated power = 316 kW)
LocationBlanchard, Traill County, North Dakota, U.S.
Coordinates47°20′32″N 97°17′21″W
CompletedAugust 13, 1963
OwnerGray Television
Height628.8 m (2,063 ft)
Design and construction
ArchitectHamilton Directors
Main contractorKline Iron and Steel

Completed during 1963, it was the tallest structure in the world until succeeded by the Warsaw radio mast during 1974, which collapsed in 1991, again making the KVLY-TV mast the tallest structure in the world until the Burj Khalifa exceeded it in 2008. It remains the fourth-tallest structure in the world (since the construction of the Tokyo Skytree and the Shanghai Tower), the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere, and the second tallest broadcasting mast in the world.

Location
KVLY-TV mast compared to the tallest buildings in the world. KXJB-TV has since been renamed KRDK-TV.

The mast is located 3 miles (4.8 km) 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 (610 m) in height, upon the completion of its construction on August 13, 1963.

Construction

The tower was built by Hamilton Erection Company of York, South Carolina and Kline Iron and Steel, and required thirty days to complete, at a cost of approximately US$500,000[1] (roughly $4.18 million today[2]). Construction was completed August 13, 1963.[3]

Owners

Owned by Gray Television of Atlanta, Georgia, the tower broadcasts at 356 kW on channel 44 for television station KVLY-TV (channel 11 PSIP, an NBC/CBS affiliate) which is based in Fargo, North Dakota. The tower provides a broadcast area of roughly 9,700 square miles (25,000 km2), which is a radius of about 55.6 miles (89.5 km). Due to the spectrum repack, KVLY transmits on UHF channel and maps to virtual channel 11 through PSIP.

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-person service elevator (built by Park Manufacturing of Charlotte, North Carolina) or ladder.

Specifications

The tower consists of two parts: a lattice tower of 1,950 feet (590 m);[4] topped by the transmitting antenna array of 113 feet (34 m). The total height of both is 2,063 feet (629 m). The antenna weighs 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg), the lattice tower weighs 855,500 pounds (388,000 kg), giving a total weight of 864,500 pounds (392,100 kg). It takes up 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land with its guy anchors.[5][6] Its height above mean sea level is 3,038 feet (926 m).

Federal rule change

Some time after its completion, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Aviation Administration (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." The FCC and FAA may approve a taller structure in "exceptional cases."[7]

  • KVLY tower from a distance of about one mile (1.6 km)
  • A guy-wire anchor
  • Detail of the tower, showing its network of guy-wires
  • Some of the guy-wires that support the tower (with Stockbridge dampers)
  • Looking up at the KVLY-TV mast from its base
  • Building at the base of the KVLY-TV tower

Structures of similar height

See also

References
  1. Blanchard. "KVLY Tower". Structurae. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  2. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  3. "ASR Registration 1046244". U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. "N.D. TV Tower No Longer World's Tallest". All Things Considered. NPR.org. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  5. "KVLY-TV Tower". Emporis. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  6. "Info". Valleynewslive.com. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010.
  7. "Antenna Tower Lighting and Marking Requirements". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
Records
Preceded by
WIMZ-FM-Tower		 World's tallest structure
2,063 ft (628.8 m)
1963–1974		 Succeeded by
Warsaw radio mast
Preceded by
Warsaw radio mast
1991–2008		 Succeeded by
Burj Khalifa
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.