Earliest possible date for construction of a 1000 foot tall tower

NibiruMul

NibiruMul

The Eiffel Tower, built in 1889, was the first building to make it anywhere near 1000 feet tall, but there were (unbuilt) concepts for 1000 foot tall towers before it. Examples include the 1000 foot tower designed by Richard Trevithick, the Crystal Palace Tower, and the Centennial Tower in Philadelphia.

https://cdn.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Trevithick-reform-column-1.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a4/84/e6/a484e6446101756c562156de016a4962.jpg
https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Column_Levinson.jpg

Notably, the concepts for the former two predate the invention of the elevator.

What is the earliest possible date you think that a 1000 foot tower could have been built?
 
NHBL

NHBL

That depends on what you mean by "Tower."
A thousand foot tall pyramid could be built as soon as OTL's Egyptian or Mayan pyramids, or even sooner--basically as soon as you have the spare labor.

A tower that's more like we think of a tower needs good ironworking--even better construction techniques if it will do anything beyond supporting itself and a small platform at the top.
 

Codae

NHBL said:
That depends on what you mean by "Tower."
A thousand foot tall pyramid could be built as soon as OTL's Egyptian or Mayan pyramids, or even sooner--basically as soon as you have the spare labor.

A tower that's more like we think of a tower needs good ironworking--even better construction techniques if it will do anything beyond supporting itself and a small platform at the top.
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A 1000-foot pyramid would be more than twice the height of the Great Pyramid, giving it about nine times the volume if it keeps the same proportions. I wouldn't be surprised if it would need an even bigger footprint and lower slope than that to compensate for the increased pressure on the stone at the bottom. Regardless, that would have to be a multigenerational effort using resources and techniques comparable to the Old Kingdom's.
 
NHBL

NHBL

Kellan Sullivan said:
Three words: tower of Babel
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No reliable historical evidence that it was possible, or even attempted.

Mad Bad Rabbit said:
Whenever Bessemer steel becomes available and an empire has the money.
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Very true--money is a big obstacle.

Codae said:
A 1000-foot pyramid would be more than twice the height of the Great Pyramid, giving it about nine times the volume if it keeps the same proportions. I wouldn't be surprised if it would need an even bigger footprint and lower slope than that to compensate for the increased pressure on the stone at the bottom. Regardless, that would have to be a multigenerational effort using resources and techniques comparable to the Old Kingdom's.
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It would have been enormous, impractical, and EXPENSIVE, but possible, IMVHO.
 

B_Munro

NHBL said:
No reliable historical evidence that it was possible, or even attempted.


It would have been enormous, impractical, and EXPENSIVE, but possible, IMVHO.
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A big enough pyramid would have been one hell of a convincing Tower of Babel to medieval travelers, though. Especially if it was never finished.

If a society for some weird religious reason were willing to keep at it for a few centuries, I wonder what the practical limits on a pyramid would be? (Or, for that matter, the laws of physics ones. You can have a decent sized fairly conical [1] mountain made out of granite, but that's a fairly solid mass, not a bunch of blocks).

[1] Any seriously large pyramid's base will probably grow to the point where it eventually takes on a more Olympian (Mars, that is) profile.

Random thought: the tallest pre-modern church spires approached 500 feet: could a, say, Crusader-ruled Egypt level off the top of the Great Pyramid and built a triumphal Church spire on top of it? That could get you up to near 900 feet. Or wouldn't the Pyramid take the weight?
 
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