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A lattice tower or truss tower is a freestanding vertical
framework A framework is a generic term commonly referring to an essential supporting structure which other things are built on top of. Framework may refer to: Computing * Application framework, used to implement the structure of an application for an op ...
tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...
. This construction is widely used in transmission towers carrying high voltage electric power lines, in radio masts and towers (a self-radiating tower or as a support for aerials) and in observation towers. Its advantage is good shear strength at a much lower weight than a tower of solid construction would have as well as lower wind resistance. In structural engineering the term ''lattice tower'' is used for a freestanding structure, while a ''lattice mast'' is a guyed mast supported by
guy line A guy-wire, guy-line, guy-rope, or stay, also called simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to a free-standing structure. They are used commonly for ship masts, radio masts, wind turbines, utility poles, and tents. A th ...
s. Lattices of triangular (3-sided) cross-section are most common, particularly in North America. Square (4-sided) lattices are also widely used and are most common in Eurasia. Lattice towers are often designed as either a space frame or a hyperboloid structure. Before 1940, they were used as radio transmission towers especially for short and medium wave. Occasionally lattice towers consisting of wood were utilized. The tallest wooden lattice tower was at Mühlacker, Germany. It had a height of and was built in 1934 and demolished in 1945. Most wood lattice towers were demolished before 1960. In Germany, the last big radio towers consisting of wood were the transmission towers of the
Golm transmitter Golm transmitter or Sender Golm was a medium wave broadcasting facility on the area of a former ''Reichsarbeitsdienst'' officer candidate school at Kuhforter Damm in Golm near Potsdam. It entered service in 1948 as the central broadcast transmit ...
and the
transmitter Ismaning The Transmitter Ismaning was a large radio transmitting station near Ismaning, Bavaria, Germany. It was inaugurated in 1932. From 1932 to 1934 this transmitter (which replaced the Stadelheim Transmitter at Munich-Stadelheim) used a T-antenna a ...
. They were demolished in 1979 and 1983 respectively. The tallest free standing lattice tower is the
Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010Petronius Compliant Tower is the tallest supported lattice tower at , being partially submerged. The city most renowned for lattice towers is
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
, which features four towers above 900 feet in height. Tokyo is the only other city in the world that has more than one above that height. The majority of the tallest steel lattice towers in the world are actually built in water and used as oil platforms. These structures are usually built in large pieces on land, most commonly in Texas or Louisiana, and then moved by barge to their final resting place. Since a large portion of these towers is underwater the official height of such structures is often held in dispute. The steel lattice truss for these structures, known as jackets in the oil industry, are typically far more robust and reinforced than their land-based counterparts, sometimes weighing more than 50,000 tons as is the case for the Bullwinkle and Baldpate platforms, whereas tall (above 1,000 feet) land-based lattice towers range from a high of 10,000 tons as is the case in the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed ...
to as low as a few hundred tons. They are built to a higher standard to support the weight of the oil platforms built on top of them and because of the forces to which they are subjected. As a result, the cost to build these structures can run into the hundreds of millions. These costs are justified due to the resulting oil and gas revenues, whereas land-based towers have a much lower stream of revenue and therefore the capital costs of towers are typically much less.


Timeline of world's tallest lattice tower

Since end of the 19th century, tall lattice towers were built. Lattice towers have even held the absolute height record. They are among the tallest free-standing architectural structures and hold a number of national records, such as the tallest free-standing or even overall tallest structure of a country.


Land record, iron and steel towers


Land record, wood towers


Land & water record, overall


Steel lattice towers


Tallest lattice towers, all types

List of all supertall lattice tower structures in the world.


Lattice towers with observation decks

indicates a structure that is no longer standing.


Radio tower carrying aerials

List of radio tower above 150 m / 500 ft in height. indicates a structure that is no longer standing.
indicates a structure that has had a change in height or has been rebuilt.


Electrical Pylons

List of Electrical pylons above 150 m / 500 ft in height.


Wind turbines

Tall wind turbines supported by lattice tallest have been built almost exclusively in Germany, one of the first countries in the world to build wide spread renewable power resources. The total height includes the lattice tower and the wind turbine rotor at peak height. List of wind turbines with a lattice tower above 150 m / 500 ft in height.


Chimneys/Smokestacks

The majority of tall lattice chimneys in the world are located in Japan. Unlike other modern developed countries which use reinforced concrete to build tall chimneys Japan has historically used steel until recently for chimney construction. List of lattice stacks above 150 m/492 ft in height.
indicates a structure that is no longer standing.


Oil Platforms

List of oil platforms with a steel jacket above 300 m / 1000 ft in height.


Jackup Rigs

List of jackup rigs above in height.


Pillars of aerial tramways


Rides

List of amusement park rides that make use of a steel lattice tower above 100 m / 328 ft in height.


Monuments


Lighthouses


Other uses


Wooden lattice towers


Existing towers


Destroyed Wooden lattice towers


Tallest lattice towers, by design type

List of the tallest lattice towers by ''common''(min 5) design types. Unique lattice tower designs. Minimum height of 120 m / 400 ft.
indicates a structure that is no longer standing.


Hyperboloid structures


Landmark towers


Blaw-Know towers


Top guyed lattice towers


See also

* List of towers * List of tallest towers *
List of tallest structures The tallest structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa skyscraper at . Listed are guyed masts (such as telecommunication masts), self-supporting towers (such as the CN Tower), skyscrapers (such as the Willis Tower), oil platforms, electricity ...
*
List of tallest freestanding steel structures This is a list of tallest freestanding steel structures in the world past and present. To be a freestanding steel structure it must not be supported by guy wires, the list therefore does not include guyed masts and the main vertical and lateral st ...
* List of tallest buildings and structures *
List of tallest oil platforms This is a list of the tallest oil platforms over in height. The current highest oil platform is the Petronius platform operated by Chevron Corporation and Marathon Oil in the Gulf of Mexico, 210 km southeast of New Orleans, United States. ...
* Architectural structure * Hyperboloid structure * Partially guyed tower *
Additionally guyed tower A guyed mast or guyed tower is a tall thin vertical structure that depends on guy lines (diagonal tensioned cables attached to the ground) for stability. The mast itself has the compressive strength to support its own weight, but does not ha ...


References

{{Authority control Towers