Canada’s National Tower

Imagine opening you eyes and feeling entirely alive, all the way from your toes to your finger tips. Imagine being in tune to all senses and fully awake. This is what is feels like to do the Edge Walk. The Edge Walk is a hands free walk around the outside of the CN Towers pod. You look over the entire city with no railing or guard 356m or 1,168ft above the ground. The Edge Walk is the first of it’s kind and absolutely terrifying. There is a 5 ft floor for you to walk on which circles the building. Making it truly an “edge” walk. However, the walk give you a 360 degree view of the city, you can see over lake Ontario even to Niagara Falls (on a clear day) (CN Tower). It’s spectacular! It takes about 1.5 hours and is worth every penny!

The experience it’s self is indescribable. I recommend it to anyone. Children can go above 13 years of age, grandparents have gone. In reality, it starts off as terrifying, but once you realize that it’s okay you become more relaxed and can really enjoy the experience. Once I became a little more relaxed I kept thinking about The CN Tower. How on earth did they build this? How does the ground support it? I had so many questions and I felt like a terrible Torontonian as I have been telling everyone I grew up here and Toronto is “My City” but I really don’t know anything about The CN Tower. Our most well known structure and way to identify us as a whole (CN Tower).

The building of The CN Tower was very ambitious. Canada’s National, the company responsible for our beautiful landmark, employed 1,537 workers work 24 hours a day and 5 days a week until completion. Construction began February 6^th 1973. The first task of CN was to move 56 metric tonnes (that’s 8 elephants) to create the foundation. After the foundation was set, they started on the concrete shaft with a hexagonal core and three curved support beams. This was accomplished by pouring cement into a mold, waiting for the mold to harden and then moving the entire processes upward by use of hydraulics. It took 8 months to finish the concrete shaft.  Canada’s National then moved on to creating the 7 story sphere which would later become the glass floor, observation deck, 360 restaurant and Edge Walk. The final piece of the puzzle was attaching the antenna. Canada’s national used a giant Sikorsky Helicopter to complete this task (CN Tower).

The CN Tower was finished on April 2, 1975, and opened to the public June 26, 1976. On the finishing of the tower, The CN Tower was recorded as being one of the 17 Worlds Tallest Free Standing Structure and received numerous mentions in the Guinness Book of World Records including World’s Highest Wine Cellar. It wasn’t until 1995 that the CN Tower was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The other six wonders include: Empire State Building, the Chunnel under the English Channel, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Itaipu Dam on the Brazil/Paraguay border, the Panama Canal, and the North Sea Protection Works off the European coast (CN Tower).

Over the years, Canada has updated the tower in various ways including the world’s first flight simulator ride experience, Tour of the Universe. A gift shop, a theatre, 360 Restaurant at the CN Tower, two additional elevator shafts, Radome or the Teflon-coating protection replacement, external security, meeting and event spaces, Horizon’s Bar, LED exterior Lighting, glass elevators, 3D Theatre and the Edge Walk (CN Tower).

 The CN Tower has become a world wide icon, but it was originated for a practical use. In the 1960’s there was a construction boom which caused communication problems for existing transmission towers. The CN Tower solve all communication problems by becoming, not only one of the tallest free standing buildings in the world, but also a transmission hub. Today, the antenna broadcasts over 30 Toronto television, UHF, VHF Television, microwave transmissions, and FM radio signals across Ontario in addition to wireless paging and cellular telephone signals (CN Tower).

Furthermore, The CN Tower acts as a time capsule. In 1976 the Canada’s National created a time capsule. Hid inside are a letter from Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, letters from each of the Provincial Premiers congratulating, letters about the Tower from various school children, three daily newspapers (Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and the Globe and Mail), Canadian coins and bills, “To The Top”, the video about the construction of The Tower. The capsule is hidden within the walls within the Look Out Level and it will not be opened until 2076 (CN Tower).

Pretty incredible what Canada’s National did to create the CN Tower. I for one believe they deserve every ounce of recognition. The Look Out portion of the CN Tower has a lot of history on it’s walls and in articles. For all you Torontonians looking for more history, information and fun facts about our wonderful city; I recommend, not only the once in a life time Edge Walk, but also going to Canada’s main attractions and really taking in the majesty of the land.  I have to admit I’ve been to Niagara Falls over a dozen times with friends and cousins, but have I really ever seen it and appreciated it? Not really. I hope we can all visit the wonders of Canada someday and really appreciate what we have.

References:

“CN Tower.” CN Tower. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2016.