this is them. a few of the sites are now disused, the others still functioning. all are interesting.
the hoover dam's intake towers
unfortuntely most people don't realise just how tall and impressive these towers are due to the fact that they're always surrounded by deep water; water which has thankfully been held back in the resevoir and contained by the dam wall. the 4 towers are there to control the flow of water down and around the dam wall towards the powerhouse where that same water will eventually generate power. these towers are 395ft tall and in total 'contain 93,674 cubic yards of concrete and 15,299,604 pounds of steel'. incredible statistics about a piece of the hoover dam which no-one is really able to appreciate.
lauchhammer bio-towers, lauchhammer
24 of these decommissioned towers sit menacingly by the road in lauchhammer, germany, huddled around central staircases in sets of four. back in their day the towers were used to purify wastewater from the town's coking plant by way of internal trickling filters, the remnants of which - slag bricks - can still be found inside. these days the structures are used to educate people about the area's industrial history through guided tours and exhibitions and recently a glass sided viewing box has been attached to the top of one of the columns to offer an elevated view of the complex. more info here.
ps10/ps20 solar towers, southern spain
i love these beasts. in front of the two towers sit a total of 1879 heliostats (mirrors), all positioned so as to reflect the spanish sunlight toward a reciever at the top of each structure. meanwhile, water is constantly pumped to the top of the towers where it's quickly boiled by the heat, resulting in steam which then drives an electricity generator via a turbine. that means masses of clean energy. the ps20 (further back in the second photo) was opened in april this year and is the world's most powerful solar tower. more info here. also see the 'super chimney', a proposed 3 mile tall structure which woud, if ever constructed, eclipse all towers ever built.
coops shot tower, melbourne
a shot tower is (or was depending on the tower as most are now disused) used to manufacture lead shot. inside the top of the tower sits a copper sieve through which molten lead is poured, the action of which results in droplets of lead falling the remaining height of the tower. by the time they reach the cooling water at the bottom, the majority of the droplets should've become both spherical and solid enough to then be sorted by size and polished. following its closure in 1961 the beatiful 9 storey coop shot tower in melbourne now sits inside a shopping centre underneath an impressive conical roof, presumably surrounded by fast food outlets and rabid shoppers. more shot tower photos here.
express lift tower, northampton
whilst certainly not the tallest or sleekest elevator test tower on earth, the 418ft tall parabolic tower that's known locally as 'the northampton lighthouse' has bags of charm and since 1997 has boasted the honour of being a listed building. strangely this unmissable, looming hunk of concrete was even opened by the queen back in 1982, presumably as it was, and still is, the only such structure in britain. or maybe the queen can't get enough of lifts. or shafts.
