Tallinn TV Tower

http://www.teletorn.ee/en

The Tallinn TV Tower (Tallinna teletorn) is a free-standing structure with an observation deck, built to provide better telecommunication services for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics regatta event (see Sailing at the 1980 Summer Olympics). It is located near Pirita, six km north-east of the Tallinn city center. The tower has a specified height of 314 m (1030.2 ft), though some sources put it at 312.6 m (1026.6 ft). The building is administered by the public company Levira (formerly Estonian Broadcasting Transmission Center Ltd) and is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.

The tower was designed by architects David Baziladze and Juri Sinis. The cornerstone was laid on September 30, 1975, and the building was inaugurated July 11, 1980 (although the first transmission took place in 1979). The tower body was constructed of reinforced concrete rings 50 cm thick that weigh a total of 17,000 metric tons, and the total tower weight is approximately 20,000 tons. The tower survived a fire during the construction stage.