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KVLY-TV Mast

KVLY-TV mast
Building
Type	TV transmission tower
Location	Blanchard, Traill County, North Dakota
Owner	Hoak Media
Coordinates	47°20′32″N 97°17′21″W / 47.34222°N 97.28917°W / 47.34222; -97.28917Coordinates: 47°20′32″N 97°17′21″W / 47.34222°N 97.28917°W / 47.34222; -97.28917
Construction
Completed	August 13, 1963
Height	628.8 m (2,063 ft)
Main contractor	Kline Iron and Steel
Design team
Architect	Hamilton Directors

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 is considered the third tallest structure ever built, after Burj Khalifa and the Warsaw radio mast (which collapsed in 1991).

Overview

Map of KVLY-TV Mast

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 mast was surpassed in height by 57 ft (17 m) in 1974 by the Warszawa radio mast near Konstantynów, Poland, which collapsed on August 8, 1991, making the KVLY-TV mast again the tallest structure on land.

On April 7, 2008, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates reached 629 metres (2,064 ft), surpassing the mast as the tallest land structure. Completed in January 2010, the Burj Khalifa's finished height is 828 metres (2,717 ft).

The tower was built by Hamilton Electric Company 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 km).

Its height above mean sea level is 3,038 ft (926 m). Some time after its completion, the FCC and 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."[1] 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 elevator or ladder.

Images

KVLY tower from a distance of about one mile (1.6 km)

Base of the tower

A guy-wire anchor

See also

• List of masts
• Tallest structures in the U.S.
• List of the world's tallest structures
• Warsaw radio mast

Structures of similar height

• KXJB Tower (2060 ft - 627.8 m)
• KXTV/KOVR Tower (2049 ft - 624.5 m)

External links

• KVLY Tower in the Structurae database
• Tower web page at KVLY-TV
• Listing 1046244 in the FCC Antenna Structure Registration database
• Listing on the Skyscraper Page
• http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b471
• http://www.pbase.com/talshiarr/kvly