90 years ago, a radio transmitting tower was put into operation in Moscow - the creation of engineer Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov.
In Moscow, on Shabolovka Street, there is a metal antenna tower of an original design, made in the form of a load-bearing steel mesh shell. This tower is called Shukhovskaya in honor of its creator - Russian engineer, architect, and scientist, academician Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov. The Shukhov radio tower was built in 1920-1922.
The resolution on the construction of the tower was adopted in 1919, since the Khodynskaya radio station, built in 1914, could no longer cope with the constantly growing volume of radio messages from the capital.
Engineer Vladimir Shukhov, who invented a method for constructing mesh hyperboloid towers, proposed a design for a tower in the form of a one-sheeted hyperboloid of revolution. Similar constructions had been familiar to him since 1886, when he created a 25-meter mesh tower for the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. He used the principle of hyperboloid towers in hundreds of structures: water towers, power line supports, warship masts.
According to the original design, the Shukhov radio tower on Shabolovka reached 350 meters and weighed only 2200 tons (the Eiffel tower at a height of 305 meters weighs 7300 tons). The tower was supposed to consist of nine hyperbolic spatial sections, installed on top of each other and firmly fastened together into a single high-rise system.
But Shukhov's original plans could not be realized. In the difficult conditions of the civil war and the blockade, the construction of such a high tower turned out to be difficult to do - there was not enough metal and funds. Shukhov was forced to develop a second project for the construction of a tower with a height of 148.5 meters and
with an estimated weight of 240 tons, which is almost 10 times less than the original design. For the construction of the tower, the metal was allocated from the reserve stocks of the military department.
The Shukhov Tower has an original elegant mesh structure, which ensures minimal wind load, which is the main danger for tall buildings. In terms of the shape of the tower sections, they are single-sheet hyperboloids of revolution made of straight beams resting with their ends against the annular bases. Openwork steel construction combines strength and lightness. With its openwork and weightlessness, the tower turned out to be surprisingly strong. In 1939, a single-engine aircraft crashed into a thick cable, stretched at an angle from the top of the tower to the ground. The tower received a strong blow, but the examination showed that it did not even need repairs.
The round conical body of the tower consists of 6 sections 25 meters high each. The lower section is installed on a concrete foundation with a diameter of 40 meters and a depth of 3 meters.
The lower sections have more powerful cross-sections of the frame elements. The average diameter of the lower support ring is 40.3 meters, while the upper one is reduced to 32.3 meters. Inclined rectilinear racks of the frame are formed by 48 mutually intersecting paired elements. The elements of the tower are fastened with rivets.
The construction of the tower was carried out without scaffolding and cranes. The upper sections were assembled in turn inside the lower section and, with the help of blocks and winches, they climbed on top of each other.
On March 19, 1922, radio broadcasts began from a unique antenna tower, which were received in remote cities and on the outskirts of Russia, as well as by many European radio stations. In 1927, the Shukhov tower began to work with a 40-kilowatt broadcasting transmitter installed at Shabolovka, created by the Nizhny Novgorod radio laboratory under the guidance of radio engineering engineer and scientist Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich. The station was named "New Comintern".
The first steps of domestic electronic television are also connected with the Shukhov tower. In 1936, when the creation of the Moscow television center began, it was decided to install a transmitting television antenna on it. To connect the television feeder (transmission line) to the antenna, a metal truss was additionally installed along the entire height of the structure, and three horizontal technical platforms were built at the heights of 141.7 meters, 144.3 meters and 148.4 meters of the tower for the installation of technological equipment.
Technical buildings were built next to the tower, technological equipment was installed, and the necessary cable lines were laid to the transmitting turnstile antenna located at the very top of the tower.
At the end of 1937, experimental television broadcasts began from the Shukhov Tower, and in March 1939 the Moscow Television Center began regular work.
For many years, the image of the Shukhov Tower was the emblem of Soviet television and the screensaver of many television programs, including the famous Blue Light.
In the 1960s, the main broadcast load was transferred to the new Ostankino tower.
In 1991, the top of the Shukhov Tower was dismantled and a superstructure with transmitting antennas of 3 new broadcasting transmitters operating in the new FM band for Russia was installed at the top with the help of a helicopter.
Due to the installation of additional structural elements, the height of the tower increased to 160 meters.
In 2000, after a fire at the Ostankino television tower, Shabolovka supported the broadcasting of the main TV channels for a year and a half.
The Shukhov Tower on Shabolovka is recognized by architects around the world as an outstanding, unique masterpiece of engineering art. The world significance of the Shukhov Tower is confirmed by the exposition of its models at prestigious architectural exhibitions in Europe in recent years. At the exhibition "Engineering Art" in the Pompidou Center in Paris, the image of the Shukhov Tower was used as a logo. At the exhibition "The Best Designs and Buildings in the Architecture of the 20th Century" in Munich in 2003, a gilded six-meter model of the Shukhov Tower was installed. Vladimir Shukhov's designs are described in detail in many European books on the history of architecture. At the international scientific conference "Heritage at Risk. Preservation of 20th Century Architecture and World Heritage", held in Moscow in April 2006 with the participation of 170 experts from 30 countries, the Shukhov Tower was recognized as a masterpiece of Russian architectural avant-garde and a world heritage site.
The Shukhov Tower is protected by the state and, among other seven objects located on the territory of Russia, it is recommended for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The radio tower is federal property and is used on the right of economic management by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Russian Television Broadcasting Network".
Currently, the radio tower is not actually used - only cellular repeaters are installed on it. for many years.
For a long time, no restoration work was carried out on it. According to the results of the survey in 1971, work was carried out to strengthen the structures of the tower, including concreting of the support units. Initially, the base of the tower was movable, and in the course of strengthening it was concreted, thereby violating the Shukhov kinematic principle of construction. The essence of this principle was the presence of a certain degree of mobility and self-compensation to external loads. In addition, the concreting of the support units caused accelerated corrosion of the metal at the base of the tower. They tried to give additional strength to the tower with the help of welded elements, which were bolted to the supporting riveted mesh-shell. International experts called this method barbaric in relation to an architectural masterpiece.
Innovations led to the deterioration of the technical condition of the structure, there was a threat of physical loss of structures that are in dire need of repair and restoration work.
In 2003, a resolution of the State Duma of the Russian Federation on the legacy of Vladimir Shukhov was adopted. Especially for the preservation of achievements in the field of engineering science, architecture, the Shukhov Tower Foundation was established, the director of which is Shukhov's great-grandson. The Foundation is concerned about the condition of the tower.
According to experts, it is in great danger - the metal is already highly susceptible to corrosion; The "legs" of the tower are concreted, which leads to an increase in the load on it and to its deformation, etc. The design of the tower is very specific, and therefore it is very difficult to restore it. Along with this, options for arranging the territory adjacent to the tower are being considered.
Architects have prepared several projects for the reconstruction of the Shukhov Tower, according to one of them, an area with recreation areas (like the Eiffel Tower), a museum, business and cultural complex may appear around the tower.
In March 2010, the famous British architect Norman Foster wrote an open letter demanding that the Shukhov Tower be restored. The text said that the famous structure "is in desolation and is collapsing." Foster noted that the tower needed to be restored to its original state.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in January 2011 ordered to allocate in 2011-2013 from the federal budget for the design and reconstruction of the facility. According to the document, the state customer is the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, the developer is the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS).
In 2011, RTRS held a tender for the right to conclude a contract for the development of design and working documentation for the reconstruction of the tower. It was won by Quality and Reliability LLC, which created a project for 10.5 million rubles, which, as of March 2012, is being approved by Glavekspertiza.
In June 2012, the tower to create a three-dimensional model of the structure with all the distortions that have appeared over time. According to the engineer's great-grandson, President of the Shukhov Tower Foundation Vladimir Shukhov, the cost of the project is two million euros. It is funded by foreign institutions dealing with the problems of physics, engineering and architecture.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources.
Address: st. Shabolovka, 8
How to get to the Shukhov tower: st. metro Shabolovskaya
The Shukhov tower, also known as the Shabolovskaya radio tower, was created in 1920-1922 by a talented Russian engineer, architect, scientist, academician Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov. The Shukhov Tower is a unique hyperboloid structure made in the form of a load-bearing mesh steel shell. This Moscow tower is considered one of the most beautiful and outstanding creations of an engineering genius in the whole world. In the book One Hundred Masterpieces of the Soviet Architectural Avant-Garde, the Shabolovskaya Tower ranks second among 100 other Russian architectural masterpieces of the 20th century. The Shukhov Tower became the first TV tower in the SSR and Russia, and now its main function is broadcasting radio programs. The height of the tower is 148.3 meters.
The decision to build a new radio tower was made by the Bolshevik government in 1919, when it became clear that the Khodynskaya radio station, built in 1914, could not cope with the ever-increasing flow of radio messages coming from Moscow. Initially, three antenna supports-masts with wooden trunks 150 m high were installed around the radio station, which were supported by multi-tiered inclined steel guys. But after some time, one of the masts was hit by a mail plane, and it collapsed. Instead, it was decided to build a new antenna tower without braces.
According to the first project, which V.G. Shukhov developed in 1919, the height of the tower was 350 meters. But the civil war was just going on, and due to a lack of metal, they began to build the tower not from 9, but from 6 sections. But, even despite this, construction was often interrupted due to a shortage of materials. During the lifting of the quadruple section of the tower, an accident occurred, and V.G. Shukhov was sentenced to suspended execution until the tower was completed.
In the first days of March 1922, the installation of the Shukhov Tower was completed, and on March 19, the first radio broadcasts began from here. With V.G. Shukhov was acquitted of the charge of wrecking and the conditional execution was cancelled.
In those years, the Shukhov Tower was the tallest in Russia, and thanks to its unusual design, it was also very beautiful, as we can see today. It was the Shukhov tower, composed of hyperboloid sections, that gave the writer A.N. Tolstoy the idea for his science fiction novel The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin. After the installation of the flagpole, the height of the tower became equal to 160 meters. The height of the Shukhov Tower above sea level is 131 meters.
Starting from March 19, 1922, the Shukhov Tower served as a support for the antennas of various television and radio stations, such as: the Moscow Radiotelegraph Station, the 40-kilowatt broadcasting station "Big Komintern", the Moscow Television Center.
It was here that the first steps were taken by electronic television in the USSR. When in 1936 it was decided to establish the Moscow Television Center, a transmitting television antenna was installed on the Shukhov Tower. The first experimental television broadcasts went on the air at the end of 1937, and from March 1939 regular television broadcasts began from here, which took place four times a week for two hours. The first broadcast took place on March 10, it was a documentary film about the opening of the XVIII Congress of the CPSU (b). For a long time, the image of the Shukhov Tower served as the emblem of Soviet television and was the screensaver of various television programs, including the legendary Blue Light.
The originality of the architectural and engineering solution of the Shukhov Tower lies in the fact that it is a slender mesh structure, which makes it possible to achieve a minimum wind load, which is the main threat to such tall structures. The sections of the tower are single-sheeted hyperboloids of revolution, made of straight beams, which abut with their ends against the annular bases. Openwork steel construction combines strength and lightness. This is evidenced by the fact that three times less metal was used per unit height of the Shukhov Tower than per unit height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. According to the first draft of the Shukhov Tower, with a height of 350 meters, it was supposed to weigh only 2,200 tons, and the Eiffel Tower, with a height of 300 meters, weighs 7,300 tons.
The round cone-shaped body of the tower consists of six sections. The height of each section is 25 meters. The lowest section rests on a concrete foundation 40 meters in diameter and 3 meters deep. All structural elements are fastened with rivets. The method of assembling the structure was also unusual. The tower was built by the telescopic method, without cranes and scaffolding. The upper sections were assembled inside the lower one, and then, using a system of blocks and winches, they were installed on top of each other.
The tower on Shabolokva is not the first one built by Shukhov according to the hyperbolic principle. The invention of V.G. Shukhov was patented (patent of the Russian Empire No. 1896 of March 12, 1899, declared on January 11, 1896), and is in demand all over the world today. In 1963, a 108-meter hyperboloid tower was built in the Japanese port city of Kobe, and in 2003 - in Zurich - and this is only a small part of the examples of the use of Shukhov's unique development. During the construction of the skyscrapers of the business center "Moscow-City", the architect Mikhail Posokhin proposed to use the principle of hyperboloid structures of the Shukhov towers. Such world famous architects as Antonio Gaudí, Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Frei Otto, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava used hyperbolic structures in their work. Perhaps the most grandiose Shukhov mesh tower was built by ARUP in 2005-2009 in Guangzhou in China - its height was 610 meters. Architecture students and engineers know this tower as a classic example of the combination of rigidity and lightness of structures.
By decision of international experts, the Shukhov Tower was recognized as one of the highest achievements in the field of engineering. It is declared a monument of architecture and engineering, is protected by the state and among other seven objects located on the territory of Russia, and is also recommended for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Surprisingly, for almost 90 years of its existence, the Shukhov Tower has never been restored. In 1971, they tried to give additional strength to it with the help of welded elements, which were bolted to the supporting riveted mesh. International experts called this method barbaric in relation to an architectural masterpiece. Initially, the base of the tower was movable, and in the course of strengthening it was concreted, thereby violating the Shukhov kinematic principle of construction. In addition, the concreting of the support units caused accelerated corrosion of the metal at the base of the tower. The essence of this principle was the presence of a certain degree of mobility and self-compensation to external loads.
According to the results of the survey in 1971, work was carried out to strengthen the structures of the tower, including concreting of the support units. As it turned out later, the concreting made it impossible to adjust the support system and increased the corrosion of the metal at the bases of the supports.
In addition, the tower is not protected from corrosion and is in disrepair. The strength of the tower structure can be judged by the fact from history. In 1939, a single-engine aircraft flying at low altitude caught on a cable that ran from the top of the tower to the ground. As a result, the plane fell apart and crashed in the courtyard of a nearby residential building, both pilots were killed. Despite the fact that the tower received a strong blow, it not only survived, but after the examination it turned out that it did not even need to be repaired.
In 2003, the Decree of the State Duma of the Russian Federation No. 4415-III on the legacy of V. G. Shukhov was adopted, which, in particular, states: “It is especially important to preserve the engineering structures built according to the projects of V. G. Shukhov in Moscow and other cities Russia, and the adoption of the necessary measures for this. However, this decision remained only on paper. In 2003, the dismantling of Shukhov's structures of the landing stage of the Kievsky railway station was carried out, the need for repair of which was discussed back in the mid-90s of the last century. In 2005, the 128-meter Shukhov Tower on the Oka, one of the two remaining unique hyperboloid pylons of the NiGRES power line near Nizhny Novgorod, was dismantled for scrap, and in 2006, to clear the site for the construction of an elite residential complex, a tram depot built according to project B was dismantled G. Shukhov on the street. Shabolovka.
The tower is located in a closed area, tourists do not have the opportunity to approach the tower. In recent years, the question of restoring the tower in its original form has often been raised, and it is proposed to create a recreational and tourist infrastructure at its foot, including the Shukhov Center for Science, Culture and Art.
On March 13, 2009, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin approved the initiative of the head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, Igor Shchegolev, to start restoration work on the Shukhov TV Tower on Shabolovka, but so far the state of the architectural monument continues to be in disrepair. Under a combination of unfavorable circumstances, the tower may simply collapse.
The history of the creation of the Shukhov tower
The fashion for the construction of hyperboloid towers was introduced by our compatriot, architect V. G. Shukhov. The first building, which was a mesh metal structure, was presented by him back in 1896, at the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition.
The project of the TV tower on Shabolovka was developed by Shukhov in 1919. According to the creative concept, the building was supposed to be 350 meters high, but the initially overestimated bar had to be lowered due to the devastation that reigned in the country after the October Revolution. In the conditions of the civil war, finding the necessary amount of metal for the construction of a hyperboloid turned out to be an impossible task, which is why Shukhov had to change the project, reducing the size of the tower by more than half. However, this decision had almost no effect on the speed of construction. Work on the construction of the structure, which did not have time to really begin, was interrupted several times due to a shortage of the necessary materials. And in the summer of 1921, an unpleasant incident occurred at the construction site, as a result of which several already finished sections of the structure were damaged.
It was only in the spring of 1922 that the Shukhov Tower was fully put into operation. The height of the first television tower in Moscow, together with the flagpole, was 160 meters.
Shukhov tower in the evening illumination
Design features
At first glance, the fragile, mesh structure of the Shukhov Tower has one invaluable advantage - the wind load on it is minimized. For structures of this height, this factor is of great importance, since the stability of the entire structure depends on it. In addition, for a building made entirely of metal beams, the Shukhov Tower has a record low weight. For comparison: the legendary Eiffel Tower, whose height is 324 m, weighs 8850 tons. At the same time, the version originally designed by Shukhov with a height of 350 m was supposed to have a mass of 2200 tons.
The design of the Shabolovskaya TV tower is ingeniously concise: straight steel profiles intersecting with each other are based on ring bases, creating a clear geometric pattern-grid. The structure is formed by 6 sections of different diameters, 25 m each. What is interesting: during the construction of the main TV tower in Moscow, neither scaffolding nor cranes were used. All parts of the Shukhov tower were assembled on the ground, inside the first, widest section, and then they were lifted and installed using winches.
View of the Shabolovskaya metro station from the height of the Shukhov Tower
You can judge the strength and endurance of Shukhov's invention by the incident that happened to him in 1941. As a result of a malfunction, a mail plane flying in the area of the tower touched a metal cable hanging from the structure from the time of construction and fixed at its base with a winch. The structure received a powerful blow, and the plane, unable to withstand the collision, collapsed in one of the neighboring yards. Perhaps, over time, the incident was forgotten, if it were not for an interesting fact: the commission assembled in order to identify the damage inflicted on the Shukhov Tower did not find any. Simply put, the building was not damaged and absolutely did not need restoration.
From sound to picture: the history of television and radio broadcasting from the Shukhov Tower
The Shukhov Tower began broadcasting radio programs immediately after its construction. But residents of Moscow saw the first TV programs only in 1939. Four days a week, happy owners of the first televisions, of which there were about a hundred in the capital at that time, could “enjoy” ideological documentaries (mainly about party congresses). With the outbreak of World War II, broadcasts from the Shukhov television center ceased, and the tower again turned into the main metropolitan radio transmitter.
In the year of the victory over Nazi Germany, television returned to the Soviet Union again, and the Shukhov TV Tower acquired the status of one of the national symbols. The image of the hyperboloid began to flicker more and more often on the screens of Soviet televisions (mostly in the form of a splash screen for some TV programs). For example, the legendary New Year's broadcast of the Blue Light program still begins with a demonstration of Shukhov's creation.
Shukhov TV Tower: Modernity
Surprisingly, it is a fact: the fame of the Shukhov TV tower has spread far beyond the borders of Russia. During the international conference in 2006, the creation of the great Russian architect was included in the short list of the best objects of the Russian avant-garde. Moreover, the international commission recommended that the construction be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Unfortunately, due to an unprofessional restoration attempt carried out in the 70s of the last century, the building partially lost its mobility and resistance to external influences. In addition, over time, the need arose for anti-corrosion treatment of tower elements.
In 2011, 135 million rubles were allocated for the restoration of the main emblem of Russian television, which turned out to be insufficient for work of this magnitude. The initial estimate was 350 million, which turned out to be an unbearable amount for the federal budget, so the reconstruction was postponed indefinitely.
By 2013, the state of the Shukhov tower passed into the pre-accident status. And a year later, Deputy Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications A. Volin proposed dismantling Shukhov's creation, allegedly due to the fact that the object threatened with arbitrary collapse. The proposal of the Deputy Minister caused negative responses among the residents of Shabolovka, as well as famous architects of the world. Enraged by Volin's "rationalization" idea, representatives of the world architectural community sent a letter of protest to the President of the Russian Federation, in which they proposed to preserve the Shukhov Tower as the most important object of world culture.
Due to the wide public outcry, the city authorities stopped encroaching on the Shabolovsky hyperboloid and even equipped it with a special supporting structure that protects the structure from destruction. Responsibility for the preservation of a monument of world architecture was assigned to the Ministry of Communications, promising to further allocate money for the reconstruction of the tower.
- TV and radio broadcasts from the Shukhov tower were stopped in 2002.
- The territory on which the structure is located is considered closed, therefore, access to the site is possible only after an officially issued permit. If this is not available, then you can simply go to the fenced area and admire the legendary structure from here.
- In total, 8 towers in the Shukhov style were built on the territory of the Russian Federation.
- In 2016, the building was included in the list of World Cultural Monuments, with a protected status. Shukhov Tower on the Oka River
How to get there
Shukhov tower address: Moscow, st. Shukhova d. 8.
The easiest way to get to the Shukhov TV tower is the Moscow metro. Get off at the Shabolovskaya station, from which the legendary hyperboloid is only a few hundred meters away. A longer route (about one and a half kilometers) from the Oktyabrskaya station. When exiting the metro, go for a walk along the street. Shabolovka, using the tram line as a guide.
The first project of the tower V.G. Shukhov developed in 1919. An ordinary willow basket prompted him to this idea. Due to the shortage of metal during the Civil War, the height of the tower had to be reduced from 350 to 148.3 m.
The construction of the Shukhov Tower began on March 14, 1920. Work was interrupted many times due to lack of materials, but since the project was personally controlled by Lenin, construction was quickly resumed. After an accident while raising the fourth section of the tower, Shukhov was sentenced to suspended execution with a suspended sentence until the work was completed. In early March 1922, the installation of load-bearing structures was completed, and on March 19, the first broadcast of radio broadcasts from the Shabolovskaya TV tower took place.
Regular television broadcasts through the transmitters of the Shukhov Tower began on March 10, 1939, when the television center on Shabolovka broadcast a documentary film about the opening of the 18th Congress of the CPSU (b). Then the programs were broadcast 4 times a week for 2 hours. And for many more years, the image of the Shabolovskaya Tower was a symbol of Soviet television and the screensaver of many television programs, including Blue Light.
The Shabolovskaya TV tower has an original mesh structure - this reduces the wind load to a minimum.
The round conical body of the tower consists of six sections 25 m high each. The lower section is installed on a concrete foundation with a diameter of 40 m and a depth of 3 m. The elements of the tower are fastened with rivets. It is curious that the Shabolov TV tower was built without scaffolding and cranes. The upper sections were assembled in turn inside the lower one and lifted on top of each other.
The openwork steel structure combines strength and lightness: 3 times less metal is used per unit height of the Shukhov Tower than on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Also, the project of the Shukhov Tower, 350 m high, had an estimated mass of 2,200 tons, and the Eiffel Tower, with a height of 300 m, weighs about 7,300 tons.
The construction of the beautiful and largest tower in Russia at that time caused general delight. And the hyperboloid sections going up in height inspired A.N. Tolstoy to create the science fiction novel "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin".
In 1941, the Shabolovskaya Tower underwent a serious test: a mail plane from Kyiv touched the cable left after the construction, which was stretched from the top of the tower to the ground.
The plane fell to pieces, and the Shabolovskaya tower received a strong blow. The examination showed that the tower passed the test: it did not even need repairs.
Now the Shukhov Tower is recognized as a monument of architecture and engineering. But it has never been restored. Attempts to give the tower additional strength with the help of welded elements are considered barbaric. However, the TV tower is in need of repair: it suffers from corrosion, and its mobile base is concreted.
The tower was proposed to be dismantled and reassembled, but this would lead to the loss of the monument. Now it has been strengthened and preserved. The passage to the Shabolovskaya tower is closed. Perhaps in the future it will be restored, and the Shukhov Center for Science, Culture and Art will appear at the foot.
Shabolovskaya TV tower in photographs of different years:
One of the Moscow sights, which is simply impossible to pass by, is the magnificent high-rise building of the early 20th century, the Shukhov Television Tower. To see the slender beauty, you need to take the metro to the Shabolovskaya station. And then you definitely won’t get lost: the tower immediately comes into view.
Engineer V.G. Shukhov initially planned to build a tower 350 meters high, but due to the lack of metal (there was a civil war), the project had to be slightly changed, and now the tower rises “only” 160 meters above the ground.
Thanks to the original technique applied by Shukhov, less than 13 tons of metal was used per 1 m of the tower. For comparison, 1 m of the famous Eiffel Tower is almost 2 times more - 22 tons.
The Shukhov Tower consists of sections, each of which is 25 m in size. Neither helicopters nor scaffolding were used to carry out high-altitude work. Shukhov came up with a different method: each next section was assembled inside the previous one and then lifted up with the help of winches and blocks. That way we managed to save money too.
The fate of the author of the Shukhov tower project was not easy. During construction, he experienced two personal tragedies, burying close relatives. A threat hung over his own head, too. When the fourth section was being prepared, an accident occurred. Fortunately, there were no victims, but a trial took place over Shukhov, and he was sentenced to a conditional execution. This meant: if the construction could not be completed on time or other emergencies were allowed, then the execution would turn from a conditional into a real one. So, with the sword of Damocles over his head, the talented engineer went on with his work and completed it brilliantly. In just 2 years (1920-1922), the tower grew to its present size.
The openwork-mesh tower has an amazing margin of safety, despite its lightness: it faithfully served people for almost 90 years, and it never needed a major overhaul. Thanks to the mesh construction, it has increased resistance to the destructive force of winds, which usually affect high-rise buildings.
From 1939 until the beginning of the XXI century. the tower was used for television broadcasts. She became a symbol of Soviet television. The audience saw her in many programs, including everyone's favorite Blue Light. The ingenious creation of the engineer Shukhov received recognition abroad. So, in Munich, at the exhibition "The Best Designs and Structures in the Architecture of the 20th Century." there was a gilded six-meter model of the Shukhov Tower.
The creation of a Soviet engineer, the principle of construction of which was then repeatedly used by Shukhov in the development of projects for water towers and other structures, served as a source of inspiration for A.N. Tolstoy, when he composed his fantastic story that excited the world: "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin".
The years go by, and the Shukhov tower still proudly rises above the capital. Of course, time takes its toll, and corrosion gradually begins its destructive effect. Last used for TV broadcasts in 2000-2001, today the tower plays the role of an interesting tourist site. The Moscow authorities are going to develop this idea further: projects have appeared that involve planting a garden and park zone around the tower, installing children's attractions and cafes. Modern shopping centers and small interesting museums near the tower could help turn part of Shabolovka into an area attractive for tourists and local residents.
There is another idea about using the tower: it can be moved to the park. Gorky or at VDNKh. But the residents of the area are against being deprived of such a wonderful decoration. Therefore, most likely, the Shukhov Tower will remain in its original place. Apparently, there is no need to fear for her fate: the residents of the capital will not give offense to such a beauty, even if she is “retired”. It is only necessary to slightly restore it, in particular, to carry out anti-corrosion treatment. So the finest hour at the Shukhov Tower is yet to come.
