Topic summary
Warsaw radio mast
The Warsaw radio mast (Polish: Maszt radiowy w Konstantynowie, lit.'Konstantynów radio mast') was a radio mast located near Gąbin, Poland, and was the world's tallest structure at 646.30 m (2,120 ft) from 1974 until its collapse on 8 August 1991. The mast was designed with extreme height to broadcast Polish state media around the world, including to parts of Canada and the United States, and even reaching Antarctica. The official name of the facility was Radiofoniczny Ośrodek Nadawczy w Konstantynowie (Radiophonic Transmission Centre Konstantynów), Radiowe Centrum Nadawcze w Konstantynowie (Radio Transmission Centre Konstantynów; RCN Konstantynów) or Warszawska Radiostacja Centralna (WRC) w Gąbinie (Warsaw Central Radio Station Gąbin). It broadcast Polskie Radio's Program I (unofficially referred to as "Jedynka").
Designed by Jan Polak, its construction started with earthworks for the foundations on 5 July 1969, while construction of the tower itself began on 18 October 1972 with a ceremony, and was completed on 18 May 1974. Its transmitter, whose installation started in October 1973, entered regular service on 22July 1974. The opening of the mast was met with extensive celebration and was covered by the Polish Film Chronicle. The tower was used by Warsaw Radio-Television (Centrum Radiowo-Telewizyjne) for radio broadcasting on a frequency of AM-LW (longwave) 227 kHz before 1 February 1988 and 225 kHz (1332 metres) afterwards. Its base was 115.2 metres (378 ft) above sea level. Because it had a potential difference of 120 kV during operation, it stood on a 2-metre-high (6.6 ft) insulator. It operated as a mast radiator (half-wave radiator), so its height was half of its 1332-metre broadcasting wavelength. The signals from its 2 MW transmitters could be received across essentially the entire globe. The structure's weight was debated, with some Polish sources claiming it weighed 420 tonnes (930,000 lb).
Upon its construction, it surpassed the height of the then-tallest structure in the world, the KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota, United States. Following its collapse, the KVLY-TV mast once again became the tallest structure in the world until 2009. After 1991, the tallest structure in Poland has been the FM- and TV-mast Kosztowy, 358.7-metre-tall (1,177 ft) tall. As of 2026, it was the third-tallest artificial structure ever built, after the Burj Khalifa tower in the United Arab Emirates in 2009, and Merdeka 118 tower in Malaysia in 2022.