When you look at rankings of world's tallest architectural structures or of the tallest architectural structures of a continent or a country, you find often that the tallest is just a bit taller than the number 2 and this only a little bit taller than number 3, etc..
In fact, you will not find many examples where an architectural structure is much taller than everything other manmade object in a wide area. The most common case of structures much taller than any other structures in a wide area around are radio masts for special radio services ( etc. long range radio navigation, submarine communication, longwave broadcasting) in thin populated or underdeveloped areas. Examples herefore are:
Hellissandur longwave radio mast, Hellissandur, Iceland, height: 412 metres (
http://en.structurae.de/structures/d...fm?ID=s0014958 )
OMEGA-Tower, Paynesville, Liberia, height: 417 metres (
http://en.structurae.de/structures/d...fm?ID=s0023208 )
LORAN-C Mast, Port Clarence, Alaska, height: 411 metres (
http://en.structurae.de/structures/d...fm?ID=s0013990 )
Lualualei Radio Masts, Lualualei, Hawaii, height: 458 metres (
http://de.structurae.de/structures/d...fm?ID=s0013999 )
All these masts are the tallest structure of their country ( in case of Alaska and Hawaii state) and are much taller than anything other in their country ( in case of Alaska and Hawaii state)
When you look at high developed denser populated areas of the world, you will not find many examples of structures which are or were much taller than anything other in their country, their continent or even the world.
Eiffel Tower was at time of completion much taller than any otherthing built in the world and until construction of large radio masts started around 1910, it surpassed all structures in the world by a factor of approximately 1.7 !
In younger history, the radio mast Konstantynow in Poland was also such an example: it surpassed with a height of 646 metres all other structures in Poland by the factor 1.8 and of Europe except Russia of 1.57.
When you compare structures of differential type, you will also find, that the tallest of its kind is not much taller than the number two. There are only a few examples, where this is not the case. For example the tallest electricity pylons, those of Yangtze River Crossing Jiangyin are with 346.5 metres much taller than the second tallest, the pylons of Yangtze River Crossing Nanjing with 257 metres.
One finds a similiar fact at bridges, where the carriageway of Millau Viaduct, the bridge with the highest pillars is much higher ( 270 metres ) than that of Europabrücke ( 192 metres). However it should be not forgotten that the carriageway of Royal Gorge Bridge reaches a maximum height of 321 metres above ground, while its pillars are only 46 metres tall.
In future, structures much taller than any other structure far around may be perhaps not so rarely. When completed, Burj Dubai will be much taller than any other structure ( at least of 180 metres). Although many other proposed extreme tall skyscrapers and solar towers will be really outshining structures in a wide area, if they are built.
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