KRDK-TV mast facts for kids
The KRDK-TV mast is a super tall tower used for sending out television signals. It's located in Traill County, North Dakota, in the United States. This mast stands at an amazing 2,060 feet (627.8 meters) tall. This makes it one of the tallest structures in the entire United States! For a while, another tower called the KVLY mast was the tallest. But after some changes to its antenna, the KRDK-TV mast became the tallest.
This huge tower is about 3.5 miles (6 kilometers) northeast of a town called Galesburg, North Dakota. It was finished in 1966. It was built to replace an older, shorter tower that the TV station used to have. That old tower was 1,085 feet (331 meters) tall and was sold to a radio station called KOVC.
The antenna on the KRDK-TV mast sends out powerful TV signals for KRDK-TV, which used to be called KXJB-TV. This TV station serves the areas of Valley City and Fargo. The station and the tower are owned by a company called Major Market Broadcasting.
Contents
Times the Mast Fell Down
This giant tower has actually fallen down and been rebuilt two times!
First Collapse in 1968
The first time the mast fell was on February 14, 1968, at 9:08 in the morning. A Marine helicopter was flying nearby. The helicopter's spinning blades accidentally cut some of the strong support wires, called guy-wires, that hold the tower up. Sadly, all four people on the helicopter died in this accident.
Because the tower fell, the television station couldn't broadcast for eight days. They eventually started broadcasting again from their old tower. It took about four and a half months to build a brand new tower that was just as tall as the one that fell.
Second Collapse in 1997
The second time the mast fell was during a big ice storm on April 6, 1997. Strong winds, blowing at 70 miles per hour, hit the area. Also, about four inches (100 millimeters) of ice built up on the tower. This heavy ice and strong wind caused the tower to break and fall at 6:09 in the evening.
Cable TV channels were back on by 8:34 PM that night. The TV station started broadcasting its regular shows again by 3 PM the next afternoon. They worked with other TV stations to make this happen. A temporary tower, which was 735 feet (224 meters) tall, was built and started broadcasting by July 10. This temporary tower, sometimes called KXJB-TV Mast 2, is still standing right next to the main, full-height tower today.
Rebuilding the Mast
Work to build a stronger, new full-height mast began on April 1, 1998. By July 30, the new tower had reached the same height as the old one. On that day, the construction workers put a small four-foot (1.2 meter) flagpole on top of the tower. This made the tower's total height about 2,064 feet (629 meters). For a short time, this made it one foot taller than the KVLY mast! The flagpole was later taken down. The TV station, Channel 4, started broadcasting from the new, strong mast on August 15.
Gallery
-
The 224-meter tall KXJB-TV mast 2 in front, with the main KXJB-TV mast behind it.
-
The bottom part of the towers. The large KXJB-TV mast is in the background.
-
A close-up of some of the strong wires that support the tower.
-
A view of the tower from about one mile away.
Other Very Tall Structures
Here are some other structures that are similar in height to the KRDK-TV mast:
- KVLY-TV mast (2,063 ft./628.8m)
- KXTV/KOVR Tower (2,049 ft./624.5 m)
