CN Tower
When construction of the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada was complete in 1976 it became the tallest tower in the world as well as the tallest free-standing structure. It held both titles until 2010 when the Canton Tower and Buri Khalifa were completed and it lost the claim of the world’s tallest free-standing structure. It got the name CN because it was built by the railway company Canadian National. In 1995 it became the property of Canada Lands Company which is a federal corporation held by the crown. It’s also referred to as Canada’s National Tower and the Canadian National Tower.
Interesting Facts:
It is still the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere today. It is 1,814 feet tall.
More than 2 million people visit the CN Tower every year.
The idea for the tower began in 1968. The purpose was to build a communications tower for TV and radio. The Skypod (originally the Space Deck) was not part of the original plan.
Although it once held the title of the world’s tallest building, free-standing structure and tower, today it is only the world’s tallest tower.
It took approximately 40 months to build at a cost of 63 million.
In those 40 months, there were 1,537 workers working 24 hours a day, five days a week.
The last piece of the tower was put in place on April 2, 1975. It took a giant air-crane helicopter to put the antenna on the top of the building.
The CN Tower is reportedly able to withstand an earthquake as strong as 8.5 on the Richter scale. It is also able to withstand winds up to 260 miles per hour.
The CN Tower is struck by lightning approximately 75 times each year. There are copper grounding rods that run down the side of the tower into the ground.
The CN Tower loves the birds. During migration seasons they dim the exterior lights. This helps to prevent injuries to the birds.
The CN Tower is almost perfectly vertical. It is only off by 1.1 inches.
You can take one of the six glass-faced elevators up to the observation deck. It only takes 58 seconds.
The restaurant at the observation deck level rotates completely every 72 minutes. That means if you’re dining for 72 minutes you’ll get to see Toronto from every angle from the tower.
From the observation deck of the CN Tower you can see about 100 miles on a clear day.
The CN Tower has a glass floor that is capable of holding the weight of five hippos. When it was built in 1994 it was the first of its kind.
In 2007 freezing rain left ice on the side of the CN Tower. When the wind picked up and began to blow the ice from the building, causing police to shut down some of the streets around the tower. One piece ice blew 1,068 feet and shattered a taxi’s window.
It holds second place in the ranking of the World Federation of Great Towers. It was named one of the Modern Seven Wonders of the World in 1995.
