towers
What is a tower?
A tower is a tall, strong, narrow building. They are usually taller than they are wide.
Towers usually stand by themselves but sometimes they are part of another building such as a church or a castle!
Towers are usually wide at the bottom and narrow up top so that
they can stand more easily.
Lots of towers have elevators and staircases that take you to the different floors.
The tower on the left is a picture of the Calgary Tower. This tower stands by itself. People take an elevator to the top so that they can see the whole city. There is also a restaurant at the top of this tower so that tourists can eat above the city!
This tower is part of a church, so it doesn't stand all by itself.
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The towers on this castle don't stand alone either! This castle is in Germany and it is called Neuschwanstein. How many different towers can you see on this castle?
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Why Do we have towers?
Towers have been around for thousands of years! The earliest towers were used as “lookout” towers in the medieval times so that villages could see enemies or danger coming from way far away. Most of these towers aren’t used today, but tourists can go visit them and learn about the history of that time. Some “lookout” towers are still used nowadays, some examples include: at airports so they can see planes coming, at prisons so they can keep an eye on the prisoners, and by the sea with lighthouses so that they can spot and signal to boats on the water. Besides “lookout” towers, most modern towers serve very different functions from the original medieval towers. Towers today are often put into big cities as a way of having offices or housing that can fit many people into a small space - by building upwards instead of outwards! Another kind of functional tower is a radio tower. These structures are basically just a metal frame of bars because they don't need to hold very much weight, instead they are used to send out a signal from up high so that it can be picked up from far away. On the other hand, towers (such as the Calgary Tower) are used solely as attractions for tourists to come visit either because they are iconic (like the Eiffel Tower), or because they serve a function such as the restaurant and good city view like we mentioned earlier.
Some watchtowers have been around for hundreds of years!
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Big cities like Tokyo have lots of "skyscraper" buildings. Skyscrapers are towers with lots of floors that people work in or live in. Lots of people can be in that one place without the building taking up much of the street space!
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Radio towers are used so that signals can be transmitted from high up in the sky are be received from farther away. They are usually made up of a metal frame, but this one is a wooden frame!
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Some famous towers that you might recognize!
See if you recognize any of the towers in these photos. Descriptions about the towers and interesting facts about the buildings are at the bottom of the picture. clicking on the picture (for most of the photos) will take you to learn more about them!
Common Structural elements of towers
By looking at the pictures above, do you notice anything that is similar about the way that these buildings are built? Having a strong base is one of the most important parts of having a stable tower. Towers are sometimes straight up in a column, but they are commonly wider at their base (bottom) and then more narrow at the top. This helps to keep the building standing strong because it has more area taken up on the bottom, instead of being heavy up top. Just think about it, it would be pretty hard for the Eiffel Tower to stand upside down! You can try this out for yourself with a partner: Stand with your legs together and get your partner to gently push you. Now try it again but this time when you get pushed, have your legs spread should-width apart. See how much easier it was to balance when your legs were spread out? This is something that builders keep in mind while building towers! In order for tall towers to stay standing in the wind, they need to be anchored down into the ground as well. Most towers have a cement foundation to keep the tower from blowing away or shifting. Think about how hard it would be for your partner to push you over if your shoes were cemented into the ground – that’s the idea behind anchoring down a tower!
Builders also have to be smart about which materials they want to use when they are creating a tower.
What types of materials do you think would make the strongest towers?
Besides the materials of the towers, builders also have to think about the layout inside the tower so that people can get through it easily. Towers like skyscrapers have many floors on them so they have elevators that transport people through the building. They have to plan for things like where to place the elevators before they can start building!
Some towers such as radio towers don’t have internal walls to make the structure strong. Instead, they have metal poles that criss-cross in triangle shapes called TRUSSES. Trusses help to keep the structure strong because triangles are the strongest shape in the world! These types of towers that are just a framed ‘skeleton’ of metal are a smart design because wind can pass right through them without any resistance! |
Graphics Used and Edited on this page: (All Images were re-uploaded 30/10/2013)
Calgary Tower http://bindlestiff.ca/worlds-largest-habitrail/
Church Tower http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Patchogue_Congregational_Church(Clock_Tower).jpg
Neuschwanstein http://unikwallpaper.blogspot.ca/2013/05/the-great-neuschwanstein-castle-germany.html
Old Watch tower http://thegallivantpost.com/vernazza-taking-it-easy-on-the-italian-riveria/
Tokyo Skyscrapers http://www.mytoour.com/Country/Japan/Tokyo/2_139_tokyo-tokyo-city-skyscrapers-10-1367505810.html
Wood radio tower http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wooden_radio_tower_2011.jpg
Most of the slideshow images http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Burj Kahlifa http://xadas5.com/2013/02/17/dubai-visto-do-edificio-mais-alto-do-mundo-fantastico/burj-khalifa-4/
Lethbridge Watertower http://www.panoramio.com/photo/48915332
Space Needle http://travelfeatured.com/space-needle-watch-tower-seattle-usa/
Tower Outlines http://www.vectors1.com/2010/skyscrapers/
Tower construction from inside http://fouman.com/Y/Picture_View-Tehran_Milad_Tower_Construction_Workers.htm
Securing base http://www.vqwind.com/vq-windjet-how-it-works.aspx
Cement and steel http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-8295-import-duty-for-steel-and-cement-to-be-scrapped/#.UnCmryr4Dug
Radio Tower http://www.chesapeakeflotillas.com/trips/2008/september.asp
Original Image http://www.rktruss.com/a/Spigot_Truss/ (highlighted/ labelled)
Calgary Tower http://bindlestiff.ca/worlds-largest-habitrail/
Church Tower http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Patchogue_Congregational_Church(Clock_Tower).jpg
Neuschwanstein http://unikwallpaper.blogspot.ca/2013/05/the-great-neuschwanstein-castle-germany.html
Old Watch tower http://thegallivantpost.com/vernazza-taking-it-easy-on-the-italian-riveria/
Tokyo Skyscrapers http://www.mytoour.com/Country/Japan/Tokyo/2_139_tokyo-tokyo-city-skyscrapers-10-1367505810.html
Wood radio tower http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wooden_radio_tower_2011.jpg
Most of the slideshow images http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Burj Kahlifa http://xadas5.com/2013/02/17/dubai-visto-do-edificio-mais-alto-do-mundo-fantastico/burj-khalifa-4/
Lethbridge Watertower http://www.panoramio.com/photo/48915332
Space Needle http://travelfeatured.com/space-needle-watch-tower-seattle-usa/
Tower Outlines http://www.vectors1.com/2010/skyscrapers/
Tower construction from inside http://fouman.com/Y/Picture_View-Tehran_Milad_Tower_Construction_Workers.htm
Securing base http://www.vqwind.com/vq-windjet-how-it-works.aspx
Cement and steel http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-8295-import-duty-for-steel-and-cement-to-be-scrapped/#.UnCmryr4Dug
Radio Tower http://www.chesapeakeflotillas.com/trips/2008/september.asp
Original Image http://www.rktruss.com/a/Spigot_Truss/ (highlighted/ labelled)