page_title: Radio masts and towers
section_title: Reinforced concrete
hierarchical_section_title: Radio masts and towers / Materials / Reinforced concrete
context_page_description: 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-made structures. Masts are often named after the broadcasting organizations that originally built them or currently use them.
  In the case of a mast radiator or radiating tower, the whole mast or tower is itself the transmitting antenna.
context_section_description: Reinforced concrete towers are relatively expensive to build but provide a high degree of mechanical rigidity in strong winds. This can be important when antennas with narrow beamwidths are used, such as those used for microwave point-to-point links, and when the structure is to be occupied by people.
  In the 1950s, AT&T built numerous concrete towers, more resembling silos than towers, for its first transcontinental microwave route.
  In Germany and the Netherlands most towers constructed for point-to-point microwave links are built of reinforced concrete, while in the UK most are lattice towers.
  Concrete towers can form prestigious landmarks, such as the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. In addition to accommodating technical staff, these buildings may have public areas such as observation decks or restaurants.
  The Stuttgart TV tower was the first tower in the world to be built in reinforced concrete. It was designed in 1956 by the local civil engineer Fritz Leonhardt.
caption: TV Tower in Stuttgart, Germany: the first reinforced-concrete TV tower.
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