Atower is a tallstructure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished frommasts by their lack ofguy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifically distinguished frombuildings in that they are built not to be habitable but to serve other functions using theheight of the tower. For example, the height of aclock tower improves the visibility of the clock, and the height of a tower in a fortified building such as acastle increases the visibility of the surroundings for defensive purposes. Towers may also be built forobservation, leisure, ortelecommunication purposes. A tower can stand alone or be supported by adjacent buildings, or it may be a feature on top of a larger structure or building.
Old Englishtorr is fromLatinturris viaOld Frenchtor. The Latin term together withGreek τύρσις was loaned from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language, connected with theIllyrian toponymΒου-δοργίς. With theLydian toponyms Τύρρα, Τύρσα, it has been connected with the ethnonymΤυρρήνιοι as well as withTusci (from*Turs-ci), the Greek and Latin names for theEtruscans (Kretschmer Glotta 22, 110ff.)
Towers have been used by humankind since prehistoric times. The oldest known may be the circular stone tower in walls ofNeolithic Jericho (8000 BC). Some of the earliest towers wereziggurats, which existed inSumerian architecture since the 4th millennium BC. The most famous ziggurats include the SumerianZiggurat of Ur, built in the 3rd millennium BC, and theEtemenanki, one of the most famous examples ofBabylonian architecture.
Some of the earliest surviving examples are thebroch structures in northernScotland, which are conicaltower houses. These and other examples fromPhoenician andRoman cultures emphasised the use of a tower in fortification and sentinel roles. For example, the name of the Moroccan city ofMogador, founded in the first millennium BC, is derived from the Phoenician word forwatchtower ('migdol'). The Romans utilised octagonal towers[1] as elements ofDiocletian's Palace inCroatia, which monument dates to approximately 300 AD, while theServian Walls (4th century BC) and theAurelian Walls (3rd century AD) featured square ones. The Chinese used towers as integrated elements of theGreat Wall of China in 210 BC during theQin dynasty. Towers were also an important element ofcastles.
Up to a certain height, a tower can be made with the supporting structure with parallel sides. However, above a certain height, the compressive load of the material is exceeded, and the tower will fail. This can be avoided if the tower's support structure tapers up the building.
A second limit is that of buckling—the structure requires sufficient stiffness to avoid breaking under the loads it faces, especially those due to winds. Many very tall towers have their support structures at the periphery of the building, which greatly increases the overall stiffness.
A third limit is dynamic; a tower is subject to varying winds, vortex shedding, seismic disturbances etc. These are often dealt with through a combination of simple strength and stiffness, as well as in some casestuned mass dampers to damp out movements. Varying or tapering the outer aspect of the tower with height avoids vibrations due to vortex shedding occurring along the entire building simultaneously.
Although not correctly defined as towers, many modernhigh-rise buildings (in particularskyscraper) have 'tower' in their name or are colloquially called 'towers'. Skyscrapers are more properly classified as 'buildings'. In theUnited Kingdom, tall domestic buildings are referred to astower blocks. In theUnited States, the originalWorld Trade Center had the nickname the Twin Towers, a name shared with thePetronas Twin Towers inKuala Lumpur. In addition some of the structures listed below do not follow the strict criteria used atList of tallest towers.
The tower throughout history has provided its users with an advantage in surveying defensive positions and obtaining a better view of the surrounding areas, including battlefields. They were constructed ondefensive walls, or rolled near a target (seesiege tower). Today, strategic-use towers are still used at prisons, military camps, and defensive perimeters.
By using gravity to move objects or substances downward, a tower can be used to store items or liquids like astorage silo or awater tower, or aim an object into the earth such as adrilling tower.Ski-jump ramps use the same idea, and in the absence of a natural mountain slope or hill, can be human-made.
In history, simple towers likelighthouses,bell towers,clock towers,signal towers andminarets were used to communicate information over greater distances. In more recent years,radio masts and cell phone towers facilitate communication by expanding the range of the transmitter. TheCN Tower inToronto, Ontario, Canada was built as a communications tower, with the capability to act as both a transmitter and repeater. Telecom towers are designed with alattice structure to evenly distribute their entire load especially in windy conditions.[3]
Towers can also be used to support bridges, and can reach heights that rival some of the tallest buildings above-water. Their use is most prevalent insuspension bridges andcable-stayed bridges. The use of the pylon, a simple tower structure, has also helped to build railroad bridges, mass-transit systems, and harbors.
Control towers are used to give visibility to help direct aviation traffic.
The term "tower" is also sometimes used to refer to firefighting equipment with an extremely tall ladder designed for use in firefighting/rescue operations involving high-rise buildings.
^John, Vinotha Jenifer; S., Nisha; M., Sobicka; O., Anandavalli (6–7 September 2024).A Comparative Study Of Telecommunication Tower Subjected To Static Analysis With Different Member Cross Section. 2nd National Conference on Structural and Geotechnical Engineering 2024. Vol. 1333. Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India. pp. 1–6.doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1333/1/012001.
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