Ostankino Television Tower
Concrete tower shaped like an inverted lily, once the tallest freestanding structure on earth.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Ostankino Television Tower in Moscow centers on August 27, 2000, an ordinary day above Moscow until a short circuit sparked deep in the tower's feeder cables near the very top. It follows the fire crews called to a broadcasting tower unlike any other, built by engineer Nikolai Nikitin in 1967 as the tallest freestanding structure on earth, strung with steel ropes instead of a rigid skeleton. Listen for how quickly the region's television and radio signals began going dark that afternoon.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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