BT Tower (Birmingham)

BT Tower
BT Tower as seen from Snow Hill Rail Station
General information
Type	Telecommunication
Location	Lionel Street, Birmingham, England
Coordinates	52°29′0.31″N 1°54′15.95″W / 52.4834194°N 1.9044306°W / 52.4834194; -1.9044306Coordinates: 52°29′0.31″N 1°54′15.95″W / 52.4834194°N 1.9044306°W / 52.4834194; -1.9044306
Construction started	July 1963
Completed	September 1966
Height
Roof	152 metres (499 ft) to top of crane
Technical details
Floor count	31
Design and construction
Architect	Ministry of Public Buildings and Works
References

The BT Tower (formerly known as the Post Office Tower and, before that the GPO Tower) is a famous landmark and telecommunications tower in Birmingham, England, and is also the tallest structure in the city. Its Post Office code was YBMR.

Construction of the tower commenced in July 1963 and was completed in September 1965. The tower became operational in December 1966 and was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Alderman James S. Meadows on 5 October 1967. It was designed by the Ministry of Public Building and Works with M.H. Bristow being the senior architect. It has 26 storeys, housing technical areas and offices, and five levels of circular aerial galleries at the top.

The original intention was to build a circular tower similar to the London one but without the public floors above the aerial galleries. At one time the Post Office wanted to increase the height from 500 feet (150 m), which had been agreed by the Ministry of Aviation, to 600 feet (180 m). This was refused in order to avoid non-standard procedures for aircraft approaching Birmingham Airport from the north-west. Cost over-runs on the London tower led to a review of the Birmingham design, and then it was decided to use a circular design of the 'Chilterns' type as used at Stokenchurch, Charwelton, Pye Green, Sutton Common, Heaton Park and Tinshill radio stations, but with the internal diameter increased from 32 feet (9.8 m) to 37 feet (11 m) to provide sufficient space on the equipment floors. The square design, as built, was proposed for aesthetic reasons by the Chief Architect of the Ministry of Public Building and Works.

The tower was designed to be stable in high winds. Channels at each corner funnel the wind to counteract the force of the wind swaying the structure. A stable platform is necessary so that the microwave dishes mounted on the side of the structure keep line of sight with the remote transmitter they are communicating with.

There were two steel rails on one wall on which a trolley was designed to run to carry the dishes up to the aerial galleries. The original horn dishes were too heavy for the roof mounted crane to lift and had to be stripped down, even in this state they were only just under the crane's maximum load capacity.

The ability to lift dishes was dependent on the weather and to complicate matters, the steel rails only went to the bottom of the first aerial gallery. To get the dishes higher a steel cable system was used that was mounted on poles. When the trolley reached the aerial gallery it had to be disconnected from the rails and swung out to attach to the cables.