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Top 10 tallest freestanding towers

date added: 04.01.2011

When it comes to ranking the world’s tallest structures, freestanding towers have a long and proud history of displacing skyscrapers as the loftiest construction projects on earth.

It was Moscow’s Ostankino Tower that finally snatched the Empire State Building’s title as world’s tallest structure when it was completed in 1967 – 36 years after the New York icon first topped the world.

And it was another tower, Toronto’s CN Tower, that gained the title nine years later when it topped out at 553m, just 13m more than the Russian structure.

However, China’s rise to the top of world business has been astounding, and so too has its construction industry. Just this week, Chinese construction firm BSB built a 16-storey hotel in just six days, showing the degrees to which the company has progressed.

The Canton Tower this year topped the 34-year record that the CN Tower had enjoyed, placing it just below the Burj Khalifa as the world’s second tallest tower. It will be a short-lived honour, however, as more projects come to maturity.

This list consists solely of non-habitable freestanding towers. While it could be argued that the Burj Khalifa should sit atop this category, the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat lists buildings, such as skyscrapers and supertall hotel, office and residential properties separately from freestanding towers.

We’ve also based the list on current published heights. Changes to specifications on towers may have taken place (changes to broadcast equipment, mast heights), but we’ve stuck to official claims published by the CTBUH. > www.constructionweekonline.com

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