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Tower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 specifically distinguished from buildings in that they are

built not to be habitable but to serve other functions using the height
of the tower. For example, the height of a clock tower improves the
visibility of the clock, and the height of a tower in a fortified
building such as a castle increases the visibility of the surroundings
for defensive purposes. Towers may also be built for observation,
leisure, or telecommunication purposes. A tower can stand alone or
be supported by adjacent buildings, or it may be a feature on top of a
larger structure or building.

Etymology
Old English torr is from Latin turris via Old French tor. The Latin
Tokyo Skytree, the tallest tower in
term together with Greek τύρσις was loaned from a pre-Indo-
the world
European Mediterranean language, connected with the Illyrian
toponym Βου-δοργίς. With the Lydian toponyms Τύρρα, Τύρσα, it
has been connected with the ethnonym Τυρρήνιοι as well as with
Tusci (from *Turs-ci), the Greek and Latin names for the Etruscans
(Kretschmer Glotta 22, 110ff.)

History
Towers have been used by mankind since prehistoric times. The
oldest known may be the circular stone tower in walls of Neolithic
Jericho (8000 BC). Some of the earliest towers were ziggurats,
which existed in Sumerian architecture since the 4th millennium Azadi Tower in Tehran, Iran; an
BC. The most famous ziggurats include the Sumerian Ziggurat of example of Iranian architecture of
Ur, built in the 3rd millennium BC, and the Etemenanki, one of the various periods
most famous examples of Babylonian architecture.

Some of the earliest surviving examples are the broch structures in northern Scotland, which are conical
tower houses. These and other examples from Phoenician and Roman cultures emphasised the use of a tower
in fortification and sentinel roles. For example, the name of the Moroccan city of Mogador, founded in the
first millennium BC, is derived from the Phoenician word for watchtower ('migdol'). The Romans utilised
octagonal towers[1] as elements of Diocletian's Palace in Croatia, which monument dates to approximately
300 AD, while the Servian Walls (4th century BC) and the Aurelian Walls (3rd century AD) featured square
ones. The Chinese used towers as integrated elements of the Great Wall of China in 210 BC during the Qin
Dynasty. Towers were also an important element of castles.
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Other well known towers include the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa,
Italy built from 1173 until 1372, the Two Towers in Bologna, Italy
built from 1109 until 1119 and the Towers of Pavia (25 survive),
built between 11th and 13th century. The Himalayan Towers are
stone towers located chiefly in Tibet built approximately 14th to
15th century. [2]

Mechanics
Up to a certain height, a tower can be made with the supporting
structure with parallel sides. However, above a certain height, the
compressive load of the material is exceeded, and the tower will fail.
This can be avoided if the tower's support structure tapers up the Roman tower (reconstruction) at
building. Limes – Taunus / Germany

A second limit is that of buckling—the structure requires sufficient

stiffness to avoid breaking under the loads it faces, especially those
due to winds. Many very tall towers have their support structures at
the periphery of the building, which greatly increases the overall
stiffness.

A third limit is dynamic; a tower is subject to varying winds, vortex

shedding, seismic disturbances etc. These are often dealt with
through a combination of simple strength and stiffness, as well as in
some cases tuned mass dampers to damp out movements. Varying or
tapering the outer aspect of the tower with height avoids vibrations
due to vortex shedding occurring along the entire building
simultaneously.

Functions
Although not correctly defined as towers, many modern high-rise
buildings (in particular skyscraper) have 'tower' in their name or are
colloquially called 'towers'. Skyscrapers are more properly classified Eiffel Tower in Paris
as 'buildings'. In the United Kingdom, tall domestic buildings are
referred to as tower blocks. In the United States, the original World
Trade Center had the nickname the Twin Towers, a name shared with the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala
Lumpur. In addition some of the structures listed below do not follow the strict criteria used at List of tallest
towers.

Strategic advantages

The tower throughout history has provided its users with an advantage in surveying defensive positions and
obtaining a better view of the surrounding areas, including battlefields. They were constructed on defensive
walls, or rolled near a target (see siege tower). Today, strategic-use towers are still used at prisons, military
camps, and defensive perimeters.

Potential energy

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By using gravity to move objects or substances downward, a tower can be used to store items or liquids like
a storage silo or a water tower, or aim an object into the earth such as a drilling tower. Ski-jump ramps use
the same idea, and in the absence of a natural mountain slope or hill, can be human-made.

Communication enhancement
In history, simple towers like lighthouses, bell towers, clock towers, signal towers and minarets were used to
communicate information over greater distances. In more recent years, radio masts and cell phone towers
facilitate communication by expanding the range of the transmitter. The CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario,
Canada was built as a communications tower, with the capability to act as both a transmitter and repeater.

Transportation support

Towers can also be used to support bridges, and can reach heights that rival some of the tallest buildings
above-water. Their use is most prevalent in suspension bridges and cable-stayed bridges. The use of the
pylon, a simple tower structure, has also helped to build railroad bridges, mass-transit systems, and harbors.

Control towers are used to give visibility to help direct aviation traffic.

Other
To access tall or high objects: launch tower, service tower, service structure, scaffold, tower
crane.
To access atmospheric conditions aloft: wind turbine, meteorological measurement tower,
tower telescope, solar power station
To lift high tension cables for electrical power distribution transmission tower
To take advantage of the temperature gradient inherent in a height differential: cooling tower
To expel and disperse potentially harmful gases and particulates into the atmosphere:
chimney
To protect from exposure: BREN Tower, lightning rod tower
For industrial production: shot tower
For surveying: Survey tower
To drop objects: Drop tube (drop tower), bomb tower, diving platform
To test height-intensive applications: elevator test tower
To improve structural integrity: thyristor tower
To mimic towers or provide height for training purposes: fire tower, parachute tower
As art: Shukhov Tower
For recreation: rock climbing tower
As a symbol: Tower of Babel, The Tower (Tarot card), church tower

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The term "tower" is also sometimes used to refer to firefighting equipment with an extremely tall ladder
designed for use in firefighting/rescue operations involving high-rise buildings.

Gallery

The Galata Tower, also Typical modern water tower Näsinneula, an observation
called Christea Turris (the in Carmel, Indiana, United tower in Tampere, Finland, at
Tower of Christ in Latin), was States night
built in 1348 A.D. by the
Genoese colony in
Constantinople.

Watchtower in the Israeli The only bridge being a Medieval military towers
West Bank barrier member of the World from Ingushetia, Caucasus
Federation of Great Towers Mountains
(http://www.great-towers.co
m/): Most SNP, Bratislava,
Slovakia

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Lifeguard tower, Asprovalta The towers of wind turbines White Tower (Brixen)-Italy
(Greece) support the rotors. built in 1591

Some of the Towers of The Aulanko Tower at the Rassef Islamic tower,
Pavia, 11th-13th century Aulanko Nature Reserve in Almussafes
Hämeenlinna, Finland

See also

General
Additionally guyed tower
Bell tower
Inclined towers
Observation tower
Partially guyed tower
Smog tower
World's tallest structures
Spire
Tower house
Twin towers (architecture)

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List of tallest towers in the world

Warfare
Battery tower
Bergfried
Breaching tower
Butter-churn tower
Flanking tower
Fortified tower
Gate tower
Turret
Watchtower
Wall tower

References
1. Map, The Megalithic Portal and Megalith. "Diocletian's Palace" (http://www.megalithic.co.uk/ar
ticle.php?sid=17691). The Megalithic Portal.
2. Dana Thomas, "Towers to the Heavens" (https://web.archive.org/web/20040409183554/http://
msnbc.msn.com/id/3474951/), Newsweek, 2003-11-15

Further reading
Fritz Leonhardt (1989), Towers: a historical survey, Butterworth Architecture, 343 pages.

External links

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