As the design effort continued, it evolved into the current design with a single continuous hexagonal core to the SkyPod, with three support legs blended into the hexagon below the main level, forming a large Y-shape structure at the ground level. Had it been built, this design would have been considerably shorter, with the metal antenna located roughly where the concrete section between the main level and the SkyPod lies today. The original plan for the tower envisioned a tripod consisting of three independent cylindrical 'pillars' linked at various heights by structural bridges. CN intended to rent 'hub' space for microwave links, visible from almost any building in the Toronto area. As each new skyscraper was added to the downtown, former line-of-sight links were no longer possible. Īt the time, most data communications took place over point-to-point microwave links, whose dish antennas covered the roofs of large buildings.

The radio wire is estimated to be 102 metres (335 ft) long in 44 pieces, the heaviest of which weighs around 8 tonnes (8.8 short tons 7.9 long tons). The reflective nature of the new buildings reduced the quality of broadcast signals, requiring new, higher antennas that were at least 300 m (980 ft) tall.

Īs Toronto grew rapidly during the late 1960s and early 1970s, multiple skyscrapers were constructed in the downtown core, most notably First Canadian Place. Key project team members were NCK Engineering as structural engineer John Andrews Architects Webb, Zerafa, Menkes, Housden Architects Foundation Building Construction and Canron (Eastern Structural Division). The tower would have been part of Metro Centre (see CityPlace), a large development south of Front Street on the Railway Lands, a large railway switching yard that was being made redundant after the opening of the MacMillan Yard north of the city in 1965 (then known as Toronto Yard). These plans evolved over the next few years, and the project became official in 1972. The original concept of the CN Tower was first conceived in 1968 when the Canadian National Railway wanted to build a large television and radio communication platform to serve the Toronto area, and to demonstrate the strength of Canadian industry and CN in particular. History CN Tower from the Toronto Islands It houses several observation decks, a revolving restaurant at some 350 metres (1,150 ft), and an entertainment complex. It is a signature icon of Toronto's skyline and attracts more than two million international visitors annually. It also belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers. In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It is currently the tenth-tallest free-standing structure in the world and remains the tallest free-standing structure on land in the Western Hemisphere. The CN Tower held the record for the world's tallest free-standing structure for 32 years, from 1975 until 2007, when it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa, and was the world's tallest tower until 2009 when it was surpassed by the Canton Tower.

Following the railway's decision to divest non-core freight railway assets prior to the company's privatization in 1995, it transferred the tower to the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation responsible for the government's real estate portfolio. Its name 'CN' referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. The CN Tower ( French: Tour CN) is a 553.3 m-high (1,815.3 ft) concrete communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. John Andrews, Webb Zerafa, Menkes Housden The CN Tower as seen from the Toronto City Centre Airport in September 2008, it is currently the world's 10th tallest free-standing structure Ĭanadian National Tower, Canada's National Tower

One world trade center observation deck