An inclined tower is a

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

that was intentionally built at an

incline Incline, inclined, inclining, or inclination may refer to: *Grade (slope), the tilt, steepness, or angle from horizontal of a topographic feature (hillside, meadow, etc.) or constructed element (road, railway, field, etc.) *Slope, the tilt, steepn ...

. Towers are built with an incline in order to support the weight of another structure, such as the

Montreal Tower Montreal Tower ( French: ''La Tour de Montréal''), part of the city's Olympic Stadium (French: ''Le Stade olympique'') and Parc Olympique and formerly known as the Olympic Tower (French: ''La Tour olympique''), is the tallest inclined structure ...

. Some towers are built with an incline due to the steep terrain upon which they stand, or simply for aesthetics.

Design

Despite the outward appearance of an inclined tower as "leaning-over", they are as structurally sound as any non-inclined tower. The mass of the tower's upper section is always equal or less than the mass of the tower's lower section, ensuring the building remains balanced around its

centre of mass In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. For a ...

Inclined tower vs. inclined building

Inclined towers are specifically distinguished from "

inclined buildings Incline, inclined, inclining, or inclination may refer to: *Grade (slope), the tilt, steepness, or angle from horizontal of a topographic feature (hillside, meadow, etc.) or constructed element (road, railway, field, etc.) *Slope, the tilt, steepn ...

" in that they are not built to be habitable, but to serve other functions. The principal function is the use of their

height Height is measure of vertical distance, either vertical extent (how "tall" something or someone is) or vertical position (how "high" a point is). For an example of vertical extent, "This basketball player is 7 foot 1 inches in height." For an e ...

to enable various functions to be achieved, including: visibility of other features attached to the tower such as

clock towers Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

; as part of a larger structure or device to increase the visibility of the surroundings for defensive purposes as in a fortified building such as a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

; as a structure for

observation Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the percep ...

for leisure purposes; or as a structure for

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

purposes. Towers can be stand alone structures or be supported by adjacent buildings or can be a feature on top of a large structure or building.

Tallest inclined towers

As of September 2019, this list includes all intentionally inclined towers which reach a height of 60 metres (197 ft) or more, as assessed by their pinnacle.

Inclined building An inclined building is a building that was intentionally built at an incline. Buildings are built with an incline primarily for aesthetics, offering a unique feature to a city's skyline, as well as framing other buildings and structures between ...

s and inclined structures that are not designed for public or regular operational access are excluded from this list.

Other examples

Towers

* The

Capo Grande Tower Capo or capos, may refer to: Designation, akin to captain *Capo, short for ''Caporegime'', a rank in the Mafia *''Capo dei capi'', or ''capo di tutti capi'', Italian for "boss of bosses", a phrase used to indicate a powerful individual in organiz ...

is a proposed 111 m (364 ft) additionally-supported inclined

observation tower An observation tower is a tower used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, and woo ...

located in

Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

overlooking the city and the

Gulf of Koper The Gulf of Koper or Koper Bay (, , ) is located in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, and is the northern part of the Gulf of Trieste. It comprises several minor bays: the Ankaran Bay (with the Valdoltra Bay), the Semedela Bay, the Viližan B ...

. * The Gravity Discovery Centre and Observatory located in

Gingin, Western Australia Gingin is a town in Western Australia, located on the Brand Highway north of the Perth city centre. It is the council seat for the Shire of Gingin local government area. Gingin had a population of 852 at the . The town's economy is mostly ba ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

features a 45 m (148 ft) tall inclined tower designed so that visitors can recreate the experiments of

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

Structures

* An inclined structure is used to hold the roof of

Schwarzwald-Baar-Center Schwarzwald-Baar-Center is a large mall in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. It has a striking architecture as its roof is carried by an inclined tower with its name and which is also equipped with a flight safety lamp. Schwarzwald-Baar-Center w ...

, a mall in

Villingen-Schwenningen Villingen-Schwenningen (; Low Alemannic: ''Villinge-Schwenninge'') is a city in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in southern Baden-Württemberg, in south-western Germany. It had 89,743 inhabitants as of September 2024. History In the Middle Ages, ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. * Many inclined

transmission tower A transmission tower (also electricity pylon, hydro tower, or pylon) is a tall structure, usually a lattice tower made of steel that is used to support an overhead power line. In electrical grids, transmission towers carry high-voltage transmis ...

s can be found at the

Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado, Black Canyon of the Colorado River (U.S.), Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, d ...

on the border of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. * The Alamillo Bridge in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

features a 70.7 m (232 ft) tall bridge tower. * The

Montjuïc Communications Tower The Montjuïc Communications Tower (, ), popularly known as Torre Calatrava and Torre Telefónica, is a telecommunication tower in the Montjuïc neighbourhood of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava, with construction ...

is a 136 m (446 ft) tall inclined

telecommunications tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-m ...

located in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. * The

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs, California, is the largest rotating aerial tramway in the world. It was opened in September 1963 as a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley to near the top of San Jacinto Peak and w ...

just outside of the city of

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

features five inclined support towers, three of which are completely self-supporting (Towers 3, 4, and 5). * Tower 1 of the

Sandia Peak Tramway The Sandia Peak Tramway is an aerial tramway, adjacent to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It stretches from the northeast edge of the city to Sandia Peak, on the ridge line of the Sandia MountainsThe upper station of the tramway ...

measures 70.7 m (232 ft) tall and features an 18° incline pointing back toward the city of

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. * The

Seri Wawasan Bridge The Seri Wawasan Bridge is one of the main bridges in the planned city Putrajaya, the new (2001) Malaysian federal territory and administrative centre. This futuristic asymmetric cable-stayed bridge with a forward-inclined pylon has a sailing ship ...

Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The Seat of government, seat of the Government of Malaysia, federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajay ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

features a 75° forward‐inclined pylon with a height of 96m.

References

External links

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