# Most unusual events which destroyed tall structures



## Obelixx (Apr 14, 2005)

Which were the most unusual events, which destroyed tall structures?

A very interesting case of an unusual destruction of a tall construction occured in 1970 in Orlunda, Sweden.
A strike of lightning destroyed the basement insulator of the 250 metre high central mast ( http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0014182 ) of the longwave transmission facility. After this, the mast collapsed, because its guys could not stop its fell.
The mast was not rebuild.

Does someone know further unusual events, which destroyed tall structures?


----------



## Grey Towers (Oct 22, 2002)

Maybe someone else can elaborate, but I remember seeing a story about an apartment building in England whose side collapsed because of poor construction. It happened in the '60s or '70s, and the building had to be demolished.


----------



## ÜberMaromas (Aug 27, 2005)

9/11, I don´t know if counts.


----------



## Effer (Jun 9, 2005)

mAROMAS X.35 said:


> 9/11, I don´t know if counts.


Since someone did it, I don't think that it counts.


----------



## Gatis (Sep 22, 2003)

Don't know if this was unusual - but spectacular for sure:
In Riga - collapse of St. Peter's church tower in 1666. It was the highest wooden building in world - 136 m high, the tower was built in late 1400ies. It collapsed due to its age - falling over densely built city.
Nearby Dom church in late 1400ies built 140 m high tower, but after the collapse of St. Peter's city required to make Dom church lower as well. Now it's "only" 90 m high.

Picture: St. Peter's tower was rebuilt to lower height - 132 m - in 18th century. In 1941 Russians burned it down, it fell over the city again. In 1970ies it was rebuilt again


----------



## SE9 (Apr 26, 2005)

Grey Towers said:


> Maybe someone else can elaborate, but I remember seeing a story about an apartment building in England whose side collapsed because of poor construction. It happened in the '60s or '70s, and the building had to be demolished.




Yes this happened at Ronan Point in East London. (16th May 1968)

The design chosen for this flat and many others like it was the 'Larsen-Nielsen' method of using pre-cast re-enforced blocks 'slotted' into place on site, then bolted and cemented together, this was seen as a safe and quick way to provide new homes for many.

However, at 5.45 a.m Thursday morning when the explosion occurred in Flat 90 - a south-east corner flat on the 18th floor of the new building, blowing out sections of the outer wall, the modern design apparently proved to have a major fault which allowed a *domino style collapse* of wall and floor sections from the top of the building to the ground.

Four people died, and 17 people were injured.


----------



## TalB (Jun 8, 2005)

mAROMAS X.35 said:


> 9/11, I don´t know if counts.


That was definately, the biggest event of a skyscraper destruction.


----------



## thryve (Mar 5, 2005)

SE9 said:


> Yes this happened at Ronan Point in East London. (16th May 1968)
> 
> The design chosen for this flat and many others like it was the 'Larsen-Nielsen' method of using pre-cast re-enforced blocks 'slotted' into place on site, then bolted and cemented together, this was seen as a safe and quick way to provide new homes for many.
> 
> ...


horrible


----------



## CrazyCanuck (Oct 9, 2004)

Sampoong department Store.


----------



## 909 (Oct 22, 2003)

a list of Radio masts and towers - catastrophic collapses

If i knew this from Wikipedia before, then i wouldn't type this: 

I've found a site, which is in Dutch with accidents of tall structures. I will post the pictures and translate it. There is not much information, but it's better than nothing. Please don't mind the mistakes i made. 

http://members.home.nl/ronheijnemans/gerbrandy_toren/ramp.htm

***

One of the tallest masts in the USA collapsed on october 23, 1997. It was the WLBT-tv mast in Mississippi,, with an height of 609,3 meter. Three people died, because they were working on the tower.

***

In 1978, the 491 meter tall WJJY-tv mast in the US collapsed because of a heavy winter. 

***

Date is according to wikipedia 1968, but the second tallest structure in the Netherlands, the 303.5 meter tall mast of Smilde, was hit by a F4 Phantom plane. There was serious damage, but the tower and the plane survived. 



















***

In 1982 was een 305 meter hoge antenne mast ingestort in America.Veel mensen kwamen om het leven hierbij.De ravage is op onderstaande foto's te zien.

In 1982, a 305 meter tall mast collapsed in the US. A lot of people died, the savage is visible on the pics:



















***

In october 2004, a 153 m tall mast in Morborne, near Peterborough (UK) collapsed. Because of falling debre the buildings with equipment were seriously damaged. 1.3 Million people couldn't receive anything on their radio because of this.




























***

In december 19, 2004, a small plane hit a mast in Los Angeles. The just before that repaired KFI. The mast collapsed after this and the pilot and his wife lost their lives.



















***

This is a stupid accident, a balloon flew into a 200 m mast, again in the US. The mast and more important, the people inside the balloon, survived. They had a long walk down.



















***

Also, a accident inside the tv tower of Moscow. I assume the result of this is known.


----------



## logorithm (Aug 7, 2006)

The collapse of The Highland Towers (Block 1) on December 11, 1993, in Taman Hillview, Ulu Klang, Selangor, Malaysia, after a continuous 10 days of rainfall. The tragedy claimed 48 lives.

---> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Towers_collapse

I remembered at that time, the newspapers published one very dramatic picture captured by a resident in the neighbouring Block 3, when the apartment was collapsing (tilted at about 50-60 degree angle). The picture captured how thick dusts were forming, and window curtains were flying out of the windows! Unfortunately I can't find this priceless picture on the internet...


----------



## e83 (Dec 18, 2006)

@ Obelixx: You are going to find all the information in this marvellous thread of Lau (banned in SSC) at Urbanity

"List of disasters in towers and skyscrapers": http://www.urbanity.es/foro/showthread.php?t=1024&highlight=lista+de+desastres


Ordered by height, 21 pages of dates and photos.


----------



## norbert91 (Nov 20, 2007)

warsaw
















today


----------



## gladisimo (Dec 11, 2006)

You know, someone's going to damn me for saying this but, 9/11 would've been pretty cool, almost like a movie, were it not for all the deaths and massive destruction.


----------



## ZZ-II (May 10, 2006)

9/11 was definitely the most unusual IMO


----------



## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

SE9 said:


>


Ronan Point survived the accident and was refurbished and strengthened. It finally passed away in 1986.


----------



## high_flyer (Jan 30, 2003)

Ronan Point definately had a negative effect on the British peoples view of high rise living, but that perception is now changing, and with the delevopment of Beetham and Shard, I think we may begin to build even taller in future


----------



## Jim856796 (Jun 1, 2006)

The 1957 eartquake in Mexico City killed a skyscraper known as Edificio Corcuero.

The 1985 earthquake in the same city killed the conjunto Pino Suarez and damaged the Justicia Civil, the Cino Teatro el Roble, and 9 buildings in the Conjunto Urbano Nonoalco Tlateloco residential complex. Found that out on skyscraperpage.com.


----------



## scukaf (May 3, 2007)

in 1880 big earthquake ruined Zagreb city (Croatia). An old cathedral was completely destroyed and after that a new one was built.

An old renaissance cathedral:











And new neogothic 105 m tall built at the end of XIX century:


----------



## 540_804 (Jan 21, 2008)

This may be a stupid or ignorant question.....but..

Has a large tower ever been seriously damaged by a large, deep sinkhole?


----------

