Senior Road Tower facts for kids

The Senior Road Tower is a very tall guyed mast (which means it's held up by strong cables called guy wires) used for sending out FM radio and TV signals. It stands at an amazing 1,971 feet (601 m) tall! You can find it near Missouri City, Texas, in the United States.

About the Senior Road Tower

The Senior Road Tower we see today was built in 1983. It replaced an earlier tower that had a big accident in 1982 while it was still being built. Many popular radio stations use this tower to send out their signals, including KKBQ 92.9, KTBZ-FM 94.5, KKHH 95.7, KHMX 96.5, KBXX 97.9, KODA 99.1, KILT-FM 100.3, KLOL 101.1, and KRBE 104.1. Even though it was named after a road, Senior Road doesn't actually connect directly to the tower's location.

The Original Tower's Collapse

The first Senior Road Tower was almost finished when its main antenna was being lifted into place. The construction team had to create their own special lifting tool because the antenna wasn't designed for this final lift. There was a problem with their plan: the cable they were using would hit and damage the antenna.

Engineers later found that the construction company had made a big mistake in their calculations. They had underestimated how much weight the bolts would need to hold. On top of that, the special U-shaped bolts they used were faulty. The company that made the bolts had said they could hold twice as much weight as they actually could.

One of these faulty U-bolts broke. This caused the antenna to fall, snapping two of the strong guy wires that held the tower up. The entire tower then collapsed in less than 17 seconds. Workers were on the tower and antenna when this happened. A video of the tower falling was even recorded by an engineer who was there that day.

After the Collapse

When the first tower was being built, a new TV station called KTXH-TV was already using it with a side antenna. After the tower collapsed, KTXH needed a new place to broadcast from. They borrowed an antenna from KRIV TV26, which was located on the 700 foot (210 m) One Shell Plaza building in downtown Houston. This building is very noticeable in Houston's skyline because it's all white with an orange and white antenna on top. Many FM radio stations had used this downtown site for their transmitters for years before planning to move to Senior Road.

Tower Features

The Senior Road Tower has special platforms that wrap around it at different heights: 900 feet, 1100 feet, and 1400 feet. These platforms hold antennas and equipment cabinets. This equipment is used for various two-way radio systems and also for special receivers that help radio broadcasters send signals from different locations back to their main studios.

Tower Measurements

Here are some interesting facts about the tower's height:

• The ground where the tower stands is 24.1 metres (79 ft) above sea level.
• The total height of the tower from the ground up is 600.7 metres (1,971 ft).
• The total height of the tower above sea level is 624.5 metres (2,049 ft).
• The height of the tower itself, without any extra parts like antennas on top, is 569.8 metres (1,869 ft).