Yekaterinburg TV Tower

Tallinn TV Tower , built on a similar project in 1975-1980.

At the end of 1983 , according to the decision of the Sverdlovsk City Executive Committee, on March 8, near the city circus , the construction of the RTPS, the radio television transmission station, began. This was a new model Soviet project, implemented earlier in Vilnius and Tallinn ^[4] . The design height of the TV tower was 371 meters from the ground (11 m - the base, 220 m - the concrete shaft and 141-meter metal antenna). It was planned to transfer all city broadcasting and transmitting capacities there to cover the entire Sverdlovsk region with a television signal ^[5] . Also at an altitude of 188 meters there was supposed to be an observation deck and a restaurant on a rotating platform (like the "Seventh Heaven" on the Ostankino TV tower). With two inflorescences of the upper and lower buildings, the TV tower would resemble a “stone flower”, as a reference to the “Ural tales” ^[6] .

The place was chosen picturesque, in the Iset floodplain, on one of two urban compositional axes, namely, on the axis passing through the dam of the city pond and its arrow, the old station . But, in view of the fact that the place was lowland, the lower building of the tower would not be visible. In May 1984, the specialists of Stroymekhanizatsiya-2 completed drilling 2,400 piles to a depth of 8 to 16 meters. Then the piles were flooded with a meter-long layer of concrete , which formed a kind of pillow for the structure, with a diameter of 40 meters and a volume of 4.5 thousand cubic meters of concrete. On August 30, 1984, five grillages were completed - the foundations for the petals of the lower tower lining.

The construction of the concrete part using the unique for that time monolithic concrete technology was carried out by the Spetszhelezobetonstroy trust, which had previously built Vilnius, Ostankino , Tallinn and a number of other television towers. Particularly strong concrete of brand 400 was used (this means that one cm² can withstand a compressive load of 400 kg), which increases strength over time. The thickness of the walls in the lower part is 500, in the upper - 300 mm. Concrete rings, each 2.5 meters high, of which the tower is built, were poured right on the spot onto the previously connected reinforcement . It took about 10 hours to fill one ring. The platform climbed a metal shaft hoist inside the tower. The largest lower rings required 64 cars with concrete, which were constantly brought from the concrete goods plant. The thickness of the protective layer of concrete on the outer surface of the barrel is 40-70 millimeters, on the inner surface - 30-50 millimeters. The design volume of concrete in the barrel is 3066 cubic meters. meters, weight - 7500 tons.

The tower is a complex figure in the form of a hollow cylinder with a diameter of 15 m (0-21 m), a truncated cone (21-160 m) and a cylinder with a diameter of 8 m (160-220 m). Along the entire height of the trunk there are numerous window openings of various shapes and sizes. At marks from 199.6 to 208.9 meters, an assembly opening of 9.3 × 5.7 m was left on the south-western side. It was planned to install an elevator shaft and elevator equipment through it (using a beam crane installed inside), after why the hole would be concreted. At a mark of 231.7 m from the ground level or 219.25 m from the zero mark, a platform with a diameter of 12 m was built, with a fence. The total height of the tower in this way was 231.7 m, and not 220 m, which is erroneously indicated in many directories. mine hoist is mounted up to 239.7 meters. Outside, a running staircase was made over the entire height of the tower, which eventually rusted. Parts of the telescopic antenna and box-shaped elements of the elevator shaft until recently lay at the foot of the tower.

Construction significantly out of the original schedule due to interruptions in the supply of concrete and cold weather, and was actively carried out until the end of 1989 , after which problems with financing began. However, the construction was not frozen and continued, although with great difficulties, until 1991. It was still necessary to erect the lower building, elevator shafts, the upper building of 20 steel concrete blocks weighing 32 tons each. The 140-meter telescopic antenna was supposed to be installed using a helicopter. To enter the tower, they planned to build an underground tunnel from Dekabristov Street. According to some reports, 11 million rubles were allocated at a time for construction, but only about 2 million were spent.

With the collapse of the USSR, funding for the construction of the TV tower completely ceased, no work was done on this site and the tower remained abandoned. The only constructive change was the installation of high-dimensional red lights for flight safety at the request of the prosecutor's office in the mid-2000s.

Despite the fact that the tower did not reach the projected height, it was the tallest building in Yekaterinburg: the height of the Iset skyscraper , built in 2016, is 206.5 meters, and that of Vysotsky is 188.3 meters.

In the 1990s, the tower became a cult object for extreme people . Climbers and basers , as well as daredevils without special training, climbed to the top of the tower. By 2005, three cases of suicide were officially recorded, but rumor ascribes to the tower more than two dozen cases of suicide ^{[7] [8] [9]} . And in the 2000s, base jumpers took a fancy to her. After that, all possible passages to the tower for climbing up were welded, and the outer staircase was sawn off at the bottom.

In 2003, the tower was given to the Federal State Unitary Enterprise RTRS for a communications facility.

In 2007, an investor was found who was ready to invest about 500 million rubles in the completion of the tower, and around to equip a zone of business centers in order to recoup the costs, but the financial crisis of 2008 brought down these plans. Representatives of RTRS said that it is cheaper to build a new television broadcasting facility 300 meters high than to equip the already built tower with the necessary systems (a metal mast 236 meters high will appear on the Uralmash).

In July 2012, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered the transfer of the tower to the ownership of the region ^[10] . April 4, 2013 D. Medvedev signed a decree according to which the unfinished TV tower is excluded from the list of federal strategic facilities and transferred to the ownership of the Sverdlovsk region .

In connection with the transition from analog television broadcasting with meter waves to digital television and radio broadcasting with shorter waves that can propagate tens and even hundreds of kilometers from the transmitter without loss ^{[11] [12] [13] [14] [15]} use An object of this purpose was no longer required for its intended purpose.

A competition was announced for the reconstruction project of the tower and the adjacent territory, which goes directly to the Iset River with the creation of a recreation zone there. The deadline for the competition, which was scheduled to be completed in July, was extended until the end of September 2013. By this time, the submitted projects had passed technical expertise. As a result, 73 projects were admitted to the competition, 10 of them were selected. Among those selected: “Global Lighthouse” (scientific and educational center) ^[16] , “Green Hill Park” (tower - an object of “bionic architectural form”), “Star of the Urals” (object based on the movement of soaring rings using the principle of magnetic levitation ) and others. There was also a project to create an Orthodox church on the base of the tower ^{[17] [18]} .

The project “Green Hill Park” won with a registry office, attractions, a cinema and an exhibition platform ^[19] . However, no investor was found for its implementation.

In February 2016, a decision was made to conserve the television tower in anticipation of the stage of the World Cup in 2018 ^[20] .

In September 2016, the TV tower was included in the privatization plan ^[21] . In January 2017, the authorities once again announced their intention to sell the tower, MUGISO was engaged in preparing the sale ^[22] .

In the summer of 2017, experts estimated the degree of readiness of the tower at 47%, the degree of deterioration - 24.6%. The property was estimated at 654 million rubles, of which 588 million rubles are the value of the land plot ^[23] .

In the summer of 2017, the Legislative Assembly of the region approved the transfer of the land under the unfinished tower for use by the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company for the construction of an ice arena for 15 thousand spectators ^[24] . Preliminary construction of the facility is estimated at no less than 1 billion rubles. Moreover, it was assumed that the tower could be preserved and included in the design of the ice arena ^[25] . But later, the governor of the Sverdlovsk region Evgeny Kuyvashev supported the decision to demolish the unfinished object ^[26] .

For dismantling the TV tower, a contracting organization from Magnitogorsk JSC "Special Explosive Works" was involved. ^[27] According to the plan, dismantling is carried out by the directional destruction method due to thermal and gas-dynamic influences using the “Enamat” pulsed gas generator ^[28] in two stages ^{[2] by} successive creation of cuts at the level of 70 meters and 10 meters ^[3] .

On March 24, 2018, at 9 hours 12 minutes local time, the tower was dismantled. The charges were activated at intervals of several seconds. The tower partially collapsed inward, partially lay on the earthed erected damping cushion exactly along the trajectory ^[29] No seismic impact from the fall of the concrete structure was observed ^[29] . The collapse of the lower part, contrary to plans, did not occur and the base remained 36–56 meters high from the tower ^[29] . On April 1, the rest of the demolition was carried out using mechanized equipment ^[30] , the night before explosions were arranged, covered with fireworks, to weaken the structure ^[31] .

TV Tower Demolition Protests

The decision to demolish the unfinished TV tower provoked a protest from some of the citizens, as well as the technical and creative intelligentsia of the city. The unfinished TV tower was a cult place for several generations of Yekaterinburg residents. Extreme climbing to the tower became part of the urban subculture ^[32] . After the appearance of information about the upcoming demolition on January 26, 2018, an unfinished TV tower was erected a memorial to those who died trying to climb onto it with the inscription “Tower of Alexander Palyanov. 40 dead ” ^[33] . Signature collection was announced for renaming Stepan Razin Street, on which the TV tower was located, to Alexander Palyanov Street (he was the first to climb and fall from the tower) ^[34] .

A number of experts stated that the dismantling of the TV tower could be an unsafe event ^[35] .

When the collapse of the unfinished TV tower in Yekaterinburg could damage the neighboring building of the Circus . This conclusion was made by Oleg Gryaznov, professor of hydrogeology, engineering geology and geoecology of the Ural State Mining University ^{[36] [37]} . According to the superintendent Vladimir Mikheev, who led the construction of the concrete shaft of the tower, under its foundation is a tectonic fault, which became clear when driving piles. Therefore, blowing up a tower, actually standing at the junction of two rocks, is very dangerous, as this can cause a local earthquake ^[38] .

Director of Spetsvysstroykomplekt LLC, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Engineering and candidate of technical sciences Sergey Shmatkov believed that for safe demolition by cutting or directional explosion methods, the presence of free areas should be no less than one and a half pipe height. There are many objects in the danger zone, including the circus building (230 meters from the tower), the Russia-My History museum (150 meters), the Summit 23-story business center (165 meters), and Artek apartments (150 meters) ), A gas station (100 m), a metro line (260 m), a synagogue (274 m), and 19th-century estates from Dekabristov Street.

Physical engineer Viktor Krylov warned of the threat caused by the fall of the object. “The demolition of the TV tower is based on a false examination, which does not provide damage from seismic impact [from the fall of the tower]. The collapse energy of the TV tower will be about 5-10 gigajoules, which is equivalent to the explosion of 5-10 tons of TNT. ” The fall of 5 thousand tons of concrete with reinforcement at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour can lead to serious damage to nearby buildings ^[39] .

Against demolition was expressed by the former governor of the Sverdlovsk region Eduard Rossel ^[40] , rock musician Vyacheslav Butusov ^[41] , the former chief architect of the city Mikhail Vyatkin, the management of the largest Yekaterinburg construction company Atomstroykompleks represented by Valery Ananyev ^[42] . The Sverdlovsk Union of Architects appealed to the General Director of UMMC Andrei Kozitsyn with a request not to demolish the TV tower ^[43] .

A group of deputies of the Yekaterinburg City Council also issued an appeal: “Similar objects existing in different countries of the world are attractions that create a huge tourist flow from around the world. The main thing is that such television towers are points of attraction for investments in a city or country. The TV tower in Yekaterinburg is one of two similar structures in Russia. Such facilities will never be built in Russia. This is precisely the uniqueness of the TV tower in Yekaterinburg! Without exaggeration, it could become not just the architectural dominant of our city, but also a symbol of the region and the whole of Russia. We are convinced that the preservation and further reconstruction of the TV tower will become the most significant project of Yekaterinburg and the UMMC holding ” ^[44] .

The head of the city, Yevgeny Roizman, spoke cautiously about the fate of the television tower, recalling that the city cannot influence the fate of the site under it, since it is controlled by the regional authorities.

Meetings of opponents of the demolition of the TV tower were held on January 26 and February 10, signatures were collected under an appeal to the President in order to prevent the demolition of the television tower. The activists in the appeal asked the administration of the President of Russia to verify the legality of transferring the state property to the hands of a private company and noted the hype and social tension that arose in the city on the eve of the presidential election. The letter expresses concern for the safety of citizens in the explosion, which no one undertakes to guarantee; mention was made of a competition held earlier for the best project for the reconstruction of unfinished buildings and that the winner had not yet begun to translate the idea into reality. In the response letter, it was promised to objectively and comprehensively consider the issue of why the relevant documents and materials were requested. The defenders of the tower are afraid that the structure will be demolished by this time.

The demolition of the television tower, scheduled for February 23, four days before this date, was canceled, in connection with an instruction from the Presidential Administration to postpone conflict issues to the post-election period. Before this, the leadership of the Yekaterinburg Metro was sent a letter about the need to suspend work on February 23 from 11.00 to 13.00, after which it became known that the demolition was postponed for an "indefinite period" ^[45] . The UMMC noted that the demolition is planned after the March 18 presidential election .

On February 22, the Department of State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sverdlovsk Region adopted an application to include the tower in the corresponding register. After that, it began to be in the status of an object possessing signs of cultural heritage, and dismantling work should be stopped before an appropriate decision ^[46] . On March 21, it was not recognized as a monument due to the fact that it has not turned 40 years old since the start of construction, this is a typical object (towers were built in the same design in Tallinn and Vilnius - the engineering elements of the Ostankino television tower were taken as the basis), as well as the fact that construction in progress.

Французский эксперт по Всемирным выставкам Лорен Антуан Лемог отметил, что реконструированная телебашня могла бы повысить шансы Екатеринбурга выиграть . Проект «Глобальный маяк», по его мнению, «выделяется на фоне прочих своей уникальностью и смелостью как с точки зрения маркетингового и архитектурного мастерства, так и в разрезе экономической привлекательности. Члены Международного бюро выставок заинтересованы в кандидатах, которые готовы инвестировать в нечто, что может стать частью великой истории Экспо». Он также сравнил проект екатеринбургскую телебашню с Эйфелевой башней, которая тоже была построена к Экспо ^[47] .

В начале марта активисты проецировали на башню лазером надписи: «Моя башня», «Мы её любим», «Я живая», «Не сносите», «Путин, спаси меня», изображения ползущих ящериц, сердечек и линий кардиограммы ^[48] . В середине марта на крыше здания ночью полицией был задержан оператор лазера, проецирующий на башню надписи. Выяснилось, что проекцию осуществляла коммерческая фирма стоимость услуг которой составляет около 800 тыс. рублей в день ^[49] . Заказчиками проекции называли депутата екатеринбургской городской думы Олега Хабибуллина ^[49] и руководителя строительной компании «Атомстройкомплекс» Валерия Ананьева, который публично выступал за сохранение телебашни и предлагал взять на себя финансовую сторону и организационную функцию при создании «общественной дискуссионной площадки» по вопросам развития Екатеринбурга ^{[50] [51]} .

22 марта активисты организовали митинг у телебашни с последующим её «обниманием», куда пришло около 2 тыс. человек, включая мэра Ройзмана.

23 марта в 04:45 утра 11 активистов прорвались через охрану, и четверо сумели залезть на вершину (впоследствии один спрыгнул с парашютом). Там они вывесили флаг России в знак защиты башни и планировали сидеть там до конца. Защитники назвали свою акцию борьбой за справедливость и потребовали провести референдум о сносе вышки. Трое парней просидели наверху 9 часов и вынуждены были спуститься из-за холода, усталости и отсутствия еды. В полиции всем выписали штрафы в 500 рублей за мелкое хулиганство ^[52] .

После сноса телебашни протестная деятельность была фактически прекращена.

Новая телебашня

К концу 2020 года в Екатеринбурге решено построить новую телевышку высотой 236 метров, но уже металлическую. Она расположится на северной окраине города (проспект Космонавтов, 99) на территории недействующего радиоузла. Заказчиком выступило ФГУП «Российская телевизионная и радиовещательная сеть», которой ранее принадлежала снесённая башня. На строительство, поставку оборудования и пуско-наладочные работы выделено 494,2 млн рублей. Радиотелевизионная передающая станция будет обеспечивать цифровое наземное телевизионное вещание телепрограмм и ОВЧ ЧМ радиовещание в Екатеринбурге ^[53] .

Проект был одобрен Главгосэкспертизой в январе 2018 года. Таким образом новая башня будет даже ниже недостроенной и мало чем отличаться от металлических телевышек в других городах страны.

• "The Babel" Series 1 - a documentary of the " Television Agency of the Urals " on the construction of the Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) television tower. 1999 year.
• "The Babel" Series 2 - a documentary of the " Television Agency of the Urals " on the construction of the Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) television tower. 1999 year.
• “The History of the Yekaterinburg TV Tower” - a documentary video report of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company “Ural” dated 04/05/2013.
• “And yet it will be demolished!” - a video report on a brief story about the ATN TV tower from 10/23/2017.
• “The countdown has begun: chronicles of the last days of the unfinished TV tower” - a review article (from February 9, 2018 to April 11, 2018) in the online edition of “E1.RU Ekaterinburg Online”. M. Ignatova, A. Ustyuzhanin.
• “TEFI-Orpheus looks at the killing of the“ extreme tower ”” - the release of the program “Sheremet News 9 ½” dated 03/26/2018 about the demolition of the tower. Sheremet I.V.
• “The TV Tower Dawned” - the release of the program “Sheremet News 9 ½” dated 04/02/2018 about the dismantling of the remainder of the tower. Sheremet I.V.
• “TV tower. What was the abandoned TV tower in Yekaterinburg and what it will never be " - an article on the Uralnash. Interesting about Yekaterinburg. ”
• The moment of demolition and fall of the tower during the demolition - a video fragment on the RT website.
• The moment of the tower’s demolition and collapse during demolition - a video clip from a different angle from a high-rise building from 03.24.2018 on youtube.com .
• The moment of demolition and collapse of the tower during demolition - the layout of the video clips taken from different angles on 03.24.2018 on youtube.com .