Architecture
The television tower Saint Chrischona shows some architecturally specific features. It is remarkable that it is carried by a striking "3-leg-construction," in contrast to most other television towers nearby. It has an aerodynamic shape; with a round shaft, the wind from both sides splits and causes at the rear an effect that keeps the tower from swaying too strongly. The lower part is built star-like, the tower at the apex sways even with strong winds only just up to 30 cm. The “Anntennenspitze” (round construction method), can sway up to 2.5 meters. The microwave radio relay antenna are of a height between 98 meters and 131 meters. VHF antennas are 152 meters high.
On the north side is a construction similar to a “backpack” which has a height of 103 meters; and two drinking water tanks that are 100 meters high that contain water supplies for the municipality of Bettingen. During the construction, the weight of the water had to be included in the tension of the tower, which is why it stood southwardly inclined before the completion.
The tower stands on a base construction which includes three basements which accommodate company / technical equipment. Because the location of the tower lies in the seismic zone of Basel – Erdbebengebiet in the Upper Rhine district, this has been built especially securely about the base. The tower should remain stable in an earthquake up to 8 on the Richter scale.
The television tower was under construction from July 1980 until December 1983, and was put into operation on 2 August 1984. It replaced a 136 meter high steel radio tower that was built in 1962 in Beromünster, where it carried an antenna for medium wave transmission, like today's backup broadcasting tower. Saint Chrischona was already in use since 1954, a broadcasting tower that was 30 meters high at that time which transferred the Swiss television program up to this time. Today's tower of Saint Chrischona carries broadcasting antennas for Swiss Radio (DRS) and the “Southwest German Radio” (SWR). Because of this unique construction, it is said that the tower could remain standing during the high winds of a hurricane, where wind speeds appear up to 220 km/h, with an oscillation of only 40 centimeters.
Read more about this topic: Swisscom-Sendeturm St. Chrischona
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