List of tallest structures in the United States

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The height of structures in the United States has been poorly documented. However, the data is a matter of public record, appearing in documents maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The KDLT tower, a 609.2 meters (1,999 ft)[1] high guy-wired aerial mast in Rowena, South Dakota, was completed in 1998 and appears to be the tallest.[2]

This list is populated heavily by antenna masts. The engineering aspects of super-tall masts are highly specialized. Only four companies erect the majority of such structures: Doty Moore Tower Services (Cedar Hill, Texas); Kline Towers (Columbia, South Carolina); LeBlanc Royal Telecom (Oakville, Ontario); and Stainless Inc. (North Wales, Pennsylvania). The design and construction are largely governed by RS222E Electronic Industries Alliance standards. A 1,000-foot (300 m) mast costs between $0.7 and $1.1 million to build, while a 2,000-foot (610 m) mast costs $2.4 to $4 million. Prices generally vary depending on tower capacity and wind loading specifications.

A common misperception is that landmarks such as the Stratosphere Tower are the tallest United States structures, but they are in fact the tallest buildings. Likewise Taipei 101 was often misrepresented as the world's tallest structure (although it was the tallest occupied building, before the certification of Dubai's Burj Khalifa as such), but in fact is far eclipsed by antenna towers in over a dozen states in the United States and in other countries.

In the United States, the FAA and the FCC must approve all towers exceeding 200 feet (61 m) in height. Furthermore, it is very difficult to get permission for structures over 2,000 feet (610 m) high. The FCC presumes them to be inconsistent with the public interest, while the FAA presumes them to be a hazard to air navigation, resulting in poor airspace usage. A significant burden of proof is placed on the applicant to show that such a structure is in the public's best interests. Only when both agencies have resolved all legal, safety, and management concerns is such an application approved.

Since 1978 the United States has maintained eleven tethered aerostats sites along the southern borders. These balloons rise to 18,000 feet (5,500 m), carrying radar units for drug interdiction purposes. However, since the balloons are aided by buoyancy and are not permanent they are not considered true structures.

State-by-state listing[]

Alabama[]

  • WTTO Television Tower (Birmingham WB-21)
  • RSA Battle House Tower
    • Height: 745 ft (227 m)
    • Mobile, Alabama
    • Tallest Freestanding building in Alabama, and the tallest building on the coast between New Yor and Houston
    • It has a fiberglass spire on the top of the building that supports the antenna
    • The building has a crown inside it which is visible up to 30 miles away (48.1 km)
    • 35 Floors

Alaska[]

Arizona[]

  • Midwest Tower Dolan Springs
  • Chimney of Hayden Smelter
    • Height: 1,001 ft (305 m)
  • Flue gas stacks of the Navajo Generating Station
    • Height: 775 ft (236 m)
    • Page (36°54′12″N 111°23′25″W / 36.90333°N 111.39028°W / 36.90333; -111.39028)
    • Year built: 1996-1998
    • Owner: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (24.3%), SRP (21.7%), Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power (21.2%), Arizona Public Service Co. (14.0%), NV Energy (11.3%), Tucson Electric Power (7.5%)
    • The Navajo Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant located 4 miles (6 km) east of Page, has three 775 ft (236 m) lined, reinforced concrete stacks. The plant's original stacks were demolished in the late 1990s after being replaced by larger diameter stacks of the same height. The new stacks were required to accommodate cooler, saturated flue gas that resulted when wet SO2 scrubbers were added.
  • The tallest radio tower is the 650 ft (198 m) KSZR (97.5) tower in Oro Valley near Tucson.

Arkansas[]

California[]

Colorado[]

Connecticut[]

Delaware[]

District of Columbia[]

Florida[]

Georgia[]

Hawaii[]

Idaho[]

Illinois[]

Indiana[]

Iowa[]

  • WOI Television Tower (Des Moines ABC 5)
  • Des Moines Hearst-Argyle Television Tower Alleman
    • Height: 2,000 ft (609.6 m)
    • Alleman (41°48'35.0" N, 93°37'17.0" W)
    • Year built: 1974
  • KCAU TV Tower
    • Height: 2,000 ft (609.6 m)
    • Sioux City (42°35'11.0" N, 96°13'57.0" W)
    • Year built: 1965
  • AFLAC Tower
    • Height: 2,000 ft (609.4 m)
    • Rowley (42°24'02.0" N, 91°50'37.0" W )
    • Year built: 1984
    • Height: 2,000 ft (609.3 m)
    • Elkhart (41°49'48.0" N, 93°36'54.6" W)
    • Year built: 2001

Kansas[]

Kentucky[]

  • WAVE Television Tower (Louisville NBC 3) – no longer used
    • Height: 1,739 ft (530 m)
    • La Grange (38°27′23″N 085°25′28″W / 38.45639°N 85.42444°W / 38.45639; -85.42444)
    • Year built: 1990
    • Owner: Subcarrier Communications
    • This tower was built to allow WAVE to reach into parts of the Cincinnati, OH market, which sacrificed the western part of the Louisville DMA. They abandoned a tower in Floyds Knobs, IN when the La Grange tower went on the air. They have since put their HD antenna and transmitter at the Indiana site and abandoned the La Grange tower.

Louisiana[]

Maine[]

Maryland[]

Massachusetts[]

Michigan[]

Minnesota[]

Mississippi[]

Missouri[]

Montana[]

Nebraska[]

  • KLKN Television Tower (Lincoln ABC 8)
    • Height: 1,854 ft (565 m)
    • Genoa (41°32′28″N 097°40′46″W / 41.54111°N 97.67944°W / 41.54111; -97.67944)
    • Year built: 1969
    • Owner: Citadel Communications
    • The KDUH-TV tower of 1,965 ft (599 m) at Hemingford collapsed in early 2003 during reinforcement work. The Duhamel Broadcasting Tower Angora was constructed about 30 miles (48 km) away and was completed in September 2003. The replacement tower is 160 m (about 500 ft) shorter than the original. KXVO and KPTM in Omaha (which are co-owned) have an FCC construction permit to build a taller tower that would put their antennas 577 m (roughly 1,900 ft) up. There was also a 2,000 ft (610 m)-mast at Hemingford, which collapsed in 2002.

Nevada[]

    • Height: 1,464 ft (446.2 m)
    • Jessup, Nevada (39°54′46″N 118°55′18″W / 39.91278°N 118.92167°W / 39.91278; -118.92167)
    • Year built: 2012
    • Owner:
    • The BREN Tower, located in Jackass Flats (Area 25) of the Nevada Test Site, was a mast that was built for nuclear radiation testing. The 465-meter-tall, 345-ton structure was constructed by Columbus, Ohio-based Dresser-Ideco in 1962. It was originally erected in Yucca Flat (Area 4) before being dismantled in 1966 and moved to Area 25. The mast was owned by the Department of Energy and maintained by National Security Technologies. On 23 May 2012 the BREN Tower was demolished. The tallest structure in Nevada since mid-2012 is the Shamrock Tower in Jessup, Nevada at 446.2 meters tall, erected in mid-2012. The second-tallest structure in Nevada is the Moapa Entravision Tower at Moapa, a 426.7 metres tall guyed TV mast at Moapa erected in 2008, the third-tallest is the 401-meter Moapa Kemp Tower at Moapa, the fourth-tallest is Stratosphere Tower near downtown Las Vegas, which was erected in 1994–96 and reaches 1,149 ft (350 m) and 921 ft (281 m) without the mast. It is also the second-tallest freestanding structure in the western U.S. after the Kennecott Smokestack in Utah.

New Hampshire[]

New Jersey[]

New Mexico[]

New York[]

  • Tallest structure in New York was the north tower of the World Trade Center from 1973 to 2001, with an overall height including the antenna mast of 1,727 ft (526.3 m). The original World Trade Center towers were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, temporarily making the Empire State Building the tallest building in New York, until the completion of One World Trade Center in May 2013.
  • One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the western hemisphere, and the third-tallest building in the world by pinnacle height.
  • One World Trade Center
  • WSPX-TV Tower

North Carolina[]

North Dakota[]

  • KVLY Television Tower (Fargo NBC 11)
    • Height: 1,987 ft (605.6 m)
    • Blanchard (47°20′32″N 097°17′21″W / 47.34222°N 97.28917°W / 47.34222; -97.28917)
    • Year built: 1963
    • Owner: Gray Media
    • This tower was known as the KTHI Television Tower until June 1995. It was the fourth-tallest structure in the world, eclipsed only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (completed in 2009), the Tokyo Sky Tree in Tokyo, Japan (completed in 2012) and the Shanghai Tower. From 1974 until its collapse in 1991, the Warsaw radio mast in Poland also eclipsed the KVLY-TV mast. This tower is used so KVLY-TV can cover both Fargo and Grand Forks. In 2019, the top mount antenna was removed, dropping the overall height to 1,987 ft (605.6 m)[10]
  • KRDK-TV Television Tower (Fargo/Valley City CBS 4)
    • Height: 2,060 ft (628 m)
    • Galesburg (47°16′45″N 97°20′27″W / 47.27917°N 97.34083°W / 47.27917; -97.34083)
    • Year built: 1998
    • The KRDK-TV tower is the world's fourth-tallest man-made structure. It had collapsed three times due to winter and summer storms, though the first time it collapsed in 1968, it was caused from a Marine helicopter cutting four guy wires of the tower. The KVLY TV tower, was the world's fourth-tallest man-made structure, is only about five miles (8 km) from the KRDK-TV tower. This tower is used so KRDK-TV can cover both Fargo and Grand Forks until 2019 when the height was reduced..

Ohio[]

Oklahoma[]

Oregon[]

Pennsylvania[]

Rhode Island[]

South Carolina[]

South Dakota[]

Tennessee[]

  • WIMZ-FM Tower
    • Height: 1,752 feet (534 m)
    • Knoxville (36°08′06″N 083°43′29″W / 36.13500°N 83.72472°W / 36.13500; -83.72472)
    • Year built: 1963
    • Owner: South Central Communications
    • The tower is home to WIMZ-FM 103.5, whose antenna is at the top. The tower is located one mile (1.6 km) east of House Mountain and stands 1,752 feet (534 m) above ground level. When used for television broadcasts by its former owner, Multimedia, Inc. (former licensee of WBIR-TV, Knoxville) it was shielded by mountains from the audience in the western Knoxville suburbs like Farragut, Oak Ridge, and Oliver Springs. This tower was built because the owners of WBIR-TV could not obtain land atop nearby House Mountain, because the only land suitable for a television tower base on the mountain had been purchased by the station's main competitor WATE-TV, Knoxville. When completed, it was for a short time the tallest man-made structure on earth.

Texas[]

Height data according to FCC's ASR entries.

Utah[]

  • Kennecott Smelter Smokestack
    • Height: 1,215 ft (370 m)
    • Magna (40°43′18″N 112°11′52″W / 40.72167°N 112.19778°W / 40.72167; -112.19778)
    • Year built: 1979
    • Owner: Kennecott Utah Copper, LLC
    • This incredibly tall smokestack was designed to help the Garfield smelter comply with the Clean Air Act. It is a prominent structure along the shore of the Great Salt Lake adjacent to Interstate 80, about 10 miles (16 km) west of Salt Lake City. The smoke rises to an altitude of 8,540 ft (1,689 m) MSL. The tallest non-smokestack structure is a 660 ft (201 m) radio mast near Plain City, owned by the

Vermont[]

Virginia[]

  • American Tower Corporation Tower Suffolk
    • Height: 1,254.9 feet (382.5 m)
    • Suffolk at 36°48'31.8" N and 76°30'11.3"
    • Year Built: 2003
    • Owner: American Tower Corporation )
    • WGNT, WHRO-TV, WTKR, WTPC-TV, WTVZ-TV

Washington[]

West Virginia[]

  • Chimney of Mitchell Power Plant
    • Height: 1206 ft (368 m)
    • Moundsville, West Virginia
    • Year built: 1968
    • Owner: AEP

Wisconsin[]

Wyoming[]

Puerto Rico[]

An incomplete list of the tallest structures in Puerto Rico. Main reference: U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) database

Structure Height (ft) Height (metres) Year built Structure Type Use Place Comments
Aguada VLF transmission mast 1,205 ft (367 m) 367.3 m ? Guyed mast VLF/LF-transmission Aguada operated by US Navy
Telemundo WKAQ TV Tower 1,105 ft (337 m) 336.8 m 1971 Guyed mast UHF/VHF-transmission Cayey
Cayey Pegasus Broadcasting Tower 1,091 ft (333 m) 332.5 m 1966 Guyed mast UHF/VHF-transmission Cayey Destroyed by Hurricane Maria - Sept 20, 2017
Arso Radio Tower 682 ft (208 m) 208 m 1996 Guyed mast UHF/VHF-transmission Cabo Rojo
La Cadena del Milagro Tower 548 ft (167 m) 167 m 1991 Lattice tower UHF/VHF-transmission Utuado Destroyed by Hurricane Maria - Sept 20, 2017
Arecibo Observatory 492 ft (150 m) 150 m 1963 Radio telescope Radio and Radar astronomy Arecibo World's largest radio telescope

By structural type[]

Tallest structures in the United States for different uses/structural types. Please expand and/or correct, if necessary

Category Structure City Height
Guyed mast KVLY-TV mast Blanchard, ND 2,063 feet (628.8 m)
Skyscraper One World Trade Center New York City, NY 1,776 feet (541.3 m)
Guyed mast insulated against ground VLF transmitter Lualualei Lualualei, HI 1,503 feet (458.1 m)
Chimney Homer City Generating Station Homer City, PA 1,217 feet (370.9 m)
Concrete tower Stratosphere Tower Las Vegas, NV 1,149 feet (350.2 m)
Free-standing lattice tower WITI TV Tower Shorewood, WI 1,081 feet (329.5 m)
Bridge Royal Gorge Bridge Cañon City, CO 1,053 feet (321.0 m)
Suspension Bridge Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco, CA 746 feet (227.4 m)
Dam Oroville Dam Oroville, CA 770 feet (234.7 m)
Masonry Anaconda Smelter Stack Anaconda, MT 585 feet (178.3 m)
Monumental column San Jacinto Monument La Porte, TX 567 feet (172.8 m)
Stone Washington Monument Washington, DC 555 feet (169.2 m)
Electricity pylon Sunshine Mississippi Powerline Crossing [3] Plaquemine, Louisiana 540 feet (164.6 m)
Industrial building VAB Kennedy Space Center, FL 526 feet (160.3 m)
Church Riverside Church New York City, NY 392 feet (119.5 m)
Aerial tramway support pillar Roosevelt Island Tramway New York City, NY 250 feet (76.2 m)

See also[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ^ "Listing 1042104". Antenna Structure Registration database. U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Brady, Paul (6 December 2017). "The KDLT Mast, The World's Almost-Tallest Transmission Tower Stands In South Dakota". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  3. ^ List of tallest structures in the world#Current
  4. ^ "Louisiana's tallest tower collapse adds to Ida broadcasting outages | Wireless Estimator".
  5. ^ "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  6. ^ "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  7. ^ "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  8. ^ "Licensee for Ozarks Public Television reaches $3.2M settlement from 2018 tower collapse".
  9. ^ "Office Buildings - Skyscrapers || World Trade Center".
  10. ^ "FCCInfo Structure Registration Results".
  11. ^ "FCCInfo Results".
  12. ^ "LORAN-C General Information". www.navcen.uscg.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-02.

External links[]

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