Tall towers
Aren't tall towers necessarily thick, heavy and expensive?
No. You can make a tall tower out of many short struts.
This principle is illutstrated by Snelson's needle tower (see image on the right).
The most efficient way to arrange the struts is normally in a column,
on top of each other - with lateral tensile stabilisation provided by
stays.
This principle is widely used by TV and radio mast designers (see
image on the left).
Notice how the TV mast is narrow, slender and light. It can be like
this because of the lateral support provided along its length by the
surrounding tensile network.
| 
