Sentech Tower

The Sentech Tower, previously named the Albert Hertzog Tower and commonly known as the Brixton Tower, is a 237-metre-high (778 ft) concrete television tower in the Brixton suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, near the top of the Brixton Ridge. It is a well-known and easily identifiable landmark in the city, alongside its "architectural cousin", the Hillbrow Tower. Although always intented for both radio and television transmission, it carried only FM radio transmissions until the 1970s.

History

The tower's construction commenced in 1961, and was completing in 1962. The tower was designed by Ove Arup and Partners and built by Christiani and Nielsen SA. Upon completion, the Sentech Tower was the tallest man-made structure in Africa in its time until it was overtaken by the Hillbrow Tower. It cost R300,000 to construct.

The first transmission took place 22 December 1961. Presently, Sentech broadcasts 18 FM programs and seven TV stations. Backup power to the tower is 1 MW using two 500 kVA Volvo generators. Towards 2001, naming rights for the tower were sold to Sentech, the TV and radio signal distributor in South Africa that is owned by the South African Government. Up until 1982, an observation deck affording panoramic views of the city was open to the public, but was closed due to security fears. The tower viewing deck has not re-opened to the public since then.

Construction and structure

In architectural terms, the Sentech Tower is a vertical cantilever structure, the shaft of which is made of reinforced concrete. On windy days, the tower has been known to lean up to 2 m (6.6 ft), as measured from its uppermost mast. In addition, the tower was built to withstand winds of 186 km/h (116 mph) and gusts of up to 200 km/h (120 mph). The tower's foundation is circular, possessing a diameter of 26 m (85 ft), and it is 6 m (20 ft) wide and 2 m (6.6 ft) deep.

The tower's full height is 237 m (778 ft), although some sources state that it has a lesser height of 234 m (768 ft).

Geography

The Sentech Tower is situated in the suburb of Brixton, in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Brixton Tower" and modified on June 3, 2020 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.