List of tallest demolished freestanding structures explained

This is a list of tallest demolished freestanding structures in the world. To be freestanding a structure must not be supported by guy wires, the sea or other types of support. It therefore does not include guyed masts, partially guyed towers and drilling platforms but does include towers, skyscrapers (pinnacle height) and chimneys.^[1]

Demolished freestanding structures 198 m/650 ft or taller

Structures with the same height are ordered by demolition date

Name	Pinnacle height (metres / feet)		Year built	Year removed	Type of structure	Main use	Country	City	Remarks	Recording of event
1 World Trade Center	526.7 m	1,728 ft	1973	2001	Skyscraper	Office, observation		New York City	Destroyed on September 11, 2001. Tallest freestanding structure that no longer exists. Tallest building in the world 1972–1974.
2 World Trade Center	415.3 m	1,362 ft	1973	2001	Skyscraper	Office, observation		New York City	Destroyed on September 11, 2001.	Video on YouTube
Chimney of Andorra Power Station	343 m	1,125 ft	1981	2023	Chimney	Power station		Andorra (Teruel)	Demolished on 16 February 2023 by explosives. Tallest freestanding structure ever demolished in a controlled manner.	Video on YouTube
Chimney of Power Station Westerholt	337 m	1,106 ft	1981	2006	Chimney	Power station		Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia	Demolished on 3 December 2006 by explosives.	Video on YouTube
Atlanta Turner Broadcasting Tower	314.3 m	1,031 ft	1967	2010	Lattice tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Atlanta, Georgia	Dismantled in 2010. Tallest lattice tower to be demolished.
Chimney of Harllee Branch Power Plant	307 m	1,007 ft	1978	2016	Chimney	Power station		Milledgeville, Georgia	Demolished on October 15, 2016. Tallest multi-flue windscreen chimney ever demolished.^[2]
Chimney of Widows Creek Fossil Plant	305 m	1,001 ft	1980	2020	Chimney	Power station		Stevenson, Alabama	Demolished on December 3, 2020.
Chimney of Marl-Chemiepark Power Station	300 m	984 ft	197?	1995	Chimney	Power station		Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia	Demolished in 1995.
Chimney #1 of Boxberg Power Station	300 m	984 ft	1979	2000	Chimney	Power station		Boxberg, Saxony	Demolished in 2000.
Chimney of Lippendorf Power Station	300 m	984 ft	1967	2005	Chimney	Power station		Lippendorf, Saxony	Demolished by explosives in 2005.
Chimney #1 of Power Plant Jänschwalde	300 m	984 ft	1981	2003	Chimney	Power station		Jänschwalde	Demolished by explosives 2002–2007.
Chimney #2 of Power Plant Jänschwalde	300 m	984 ft	1981	2005	Chimney	Power station		Jänschwalde	Demolished by explosives 2002–2007.
Chimney #3 of Power Plant Jänschwalde	300 m	984 ft	1981	2007	Chimney	Power station		Jänschwalde	Demolished by explosives 2002–2007.
Chimney of Thierbach Power Station	300 m	984 ft	1968	?	Chimney	Power station		Espenhain, Saxony	Demolished.
Chimney #2 of Boxberg Power Station	300 m	984 ft	1979	2009	Chimney	Power station		Boxberg, Saxony	Demolished in 2009.
Chimney #3 of Boxberg Power Station	300 m	984 ft	1979	2012	Chimney	Power station		Boxberg, Saxony	Demolished in 2009.
Chimney of Chimney of Tušimice Power Station	300 m	984 ft	1974	2012	Chimney	Power station		Tušimice	Dismantled in 2011–12.^[3]
Chimney #4 of Boxberg Power Station	300 m	984 ft	1979	2012	Chimney	Power station		Boxberg, Saxony	Demolished in 2012.
Chimney #3 Matla Power Station Smokestack	276 m	906 ft	1982	1982	Chimney	Power station		Kriel	Demolished in 1982 after partially collapsing during construction.
Chimney of R.E. Burger Power Station	260 m	854 ft	19	2016	Chimney	Power station		Dilles Bottom	Demolished on July 29, 2016^[4]
Chimney of Shawville Generating Station	259 m	850 ft	1972	2016	Chimney	Power station		Shadyside, Ohio	Demolished in 2016.
Chimney of Hamburg-Port	256 m	840 ft	?	2004	Chimney	?			Demolished in April 2004. Further damage occurred caused by miscalculation of debris trajectories from explosive demolition.
Chimneys #2 Yates Power Plant	253 m	830 ft	1974	2017	Chimney	Power station			Demolished on 21 January 2017.
Chimney #2 ASARCO El Paso Smelter	252.5 m	828 ft	1967	2013	Chimney	Smelter			Demolished in April 2013.
Lafayette transmitter, Tower 1	250 m	820 ft	1918	1944	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Marcheprime	Demolished in 1944.^[5]
Lafayette transmitter, Tower 2	250 m	820 ft	1918	1944	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Marcheprime	Demolished in 1944.
Lafayette transmitter, Tower 3	250 m	820 ft	1918	1944	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Marcheprime	Demolished in 1944.
Lafayette transmitter, Tower 4	250 m	820 ft	1918	1944	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Marcheprime	Demolished in 1944.
Lafayette transmitter, Tower 5	250 m	820 ft	1918	1944	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Marcheprime	Demolished in 1944.
Lafayette transmitter, Tower 6	250 m	820 ft	1918/1920	1944	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Marcheprime	Demolished in 1944.
Lafayette transmitter, Tower 7	250 m	820 ft	1920	1944	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Marcheprime	Demolished in 1944.
Lafayette transmitter, Tower 8	250 m	820 ft	1918/1920	1953	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Marcheprime	Disassembled in 1953.
	250 m	820 ft	1978	2005	Chimney	?			Demolished in 2005.
	250 m	820 ft	1973	?	Chimney	Power station			Disassembled.
	244 m	801 ft	1979	2016	Chimney	Power station			Demolished on September 7, 2016.
	243 m	797 ft	1925	1972	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Koenigs Wusterhausen	Collapsed during storm on November 15, 1972. Tallest freestanding structure to collapse in a storm.
Chimney #1 Navajo Generating Station	236.2 m	775 ft	1997	2020	Chimney	Power station		Page, Arizona,	Demolished on December 18, 2020
Chimney #2 Navajo Generating Station	236.2 m	775 ft	1998	2020	Chimney	Power station		Page, Arizona,	Demolished on December 18, 2020	(see above)
Chimney #3 Navajo Generating Station	236.2 m	775 ft	1999	2020	Chimney	Power station		Page, Arizona,	Demolished on December 18, 2020	(see above)
	236 m	774 ft	1976	2013	Chimney	Power station			Demolished on July 28, 2013.
Chimney of Power Station Schwandorf	235 m	771 ft	?	2005	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in 2005.
Channel 9 TV Tower	233 m	764 ft	1965	2021	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Sydney	Disassembled in August 2021.
WOR TV Tower	231.65 m	760 ft	1949	1956	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		North Bergen, New Jersey	Dismantled after being struck by an aircraft in 1956.
Chimney of Castrop-Rauxel Power Station	230 m	755 ft	1966	2008	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in 2008.
Chimneys of Heating Power Station Gera-Nord	225 m	738 ft	1984/1986	2010	Chimney	Power station			Demolished 2008–2010.
	220 m	722 ft	1962	2005	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in 2005.
Yekaterinburg TV Tower	219 m	720 ft	1962	2018	Tower	Observation Tower			Demolished on March 24, 2018. Was originally intended to be 360 m (1,180 ft) tall.
	217.3 m	713 ft	1968	2000	Chimney	Power station			Demolished on November 25, 2000.
270 Park Avenue	216 m	708 ft	1960	2021	Skyscraper	Office		New York City	Disassembled in 2020–21. Tallest building to ever be voluntarily removed.
Chimney of Littlebrook Power Station, Unit 'D'	215 m	705 ft	1981	2019	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in December 2019.
	213.5 m	700 ft	1960	2018	Chimney	Power station			Demolished on October 1, 2018.^[6]
Chimney Power Station Moers-Meerbeck	210 m	689 ft	?	1990's	Chimney	Power station			Demolished early 1990s.
Novosemeykino Longwave Transmission, Tower 1^[7]	205 m	673 ft	1943	2010	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Novosemeykino	Demolished in 2010,^[8] selfradiating insulated against ground
Novosemeykino Longwave Transmission, Tower 2	205 m	673 ft	1943	2010	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Novosemeykino	Demolished in 2010, selfradiating insulated against ground
Novosemeykino Longwave Transmission, Tower 3	205 m	673 ft	1943	2010	Lattice Tower	UHF/VHF-transmission		Novosemeykino	Demolished in 2010, selfradiating insulated against ground
Chimney Power Station Franken II	202 m	663 ft	1964	2001	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in 2001.
Chimney of Považská Bystrica Old Power Station	201 m	659 ft	?	2016	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in 2016.^[9]
Chimney Ludwigshafen	200 m	656 ft	?	2002	Chimney	?			Demolished in November 2002.
Chimney Power Station Breitungen	200 m	656 ft	1986	2005	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in 2005.
Chimney of Schwedt PCK-refinery	200 m	656 ft	?	2003	Chimney	Refinery			Demolished in 2003.
	200 m	656 ft	1967	2008	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in 2008.
Manušice Chimney	200 m	656 ft	?	?	Chimney	?			Demolished ?
Chimney of Skalice u České Lípy	200 m	656 ft	?	?	Chimney	?			Demolished ?
	199.5 m	654 ft	1968	2020	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in February 2020.
Chimney of Ohio Edison Toronto Power Plant^[10]	198 m	650 ft	19	2008	Chimney	Power station			Demolition on November 1, 2008.
Port Kembla Copper Stack	198 m	650 ft	1965	2014	Chimney	Smelter			Demolished on February 20, 2014.
Chimney #1 of Nanticoke Generating Station Units 1–4	198 m	650 ft	1972	2018	Chimney	Power station			Demolished on February 28, 2018.
Chimney #2 of Nanticoke Generating Station Units 5–8	198 m	650 ft	1972	2018	Chimney	Power station			Demolished on February 28, 2018.	(see above)
	198 m	650 ft	1970	2018	Chimney	Power station			Demolished in March 2018.
Chimney of St. Johns River Power Park^[11]	198 m	650 ft	1988	2019	Chimney	Power station			Demolished on July 23, 2019.^[12]
Chimney of Consumers Energy B.C. Cobb Plant	198 m	650 ft	?	2020	Chimney	Power station			Disassembled in 2019-20.^[13]
	198 m	650 ft	1966	2020	Chimney	Power station			Demolition in 2020.
Chimney of Thunder Bay Generating Station	198 m	650 ft	1963	2021	Chimney	Power station			Demolished on September 9, 2021.^[14]

Timeline of world's tallest demolished freestanding structures

Name	Height (metres / feet)		Held record	Structural type	Country	City	class=unsortable	Notes
Meidum pyramid	92 m	300 ft	2610 BC–1303 AD (3913 years)	Mausoleum		Meidum	Collapsed during construction, now 65m
Lighthouse of Alexandria	103 to 118 m	338 to 387 ft	1303–1500 (197 years)	Lighthouse			Damaged by earthquakes in 956, 1303 and 1323. The most destructive of which is indicated to be the 1303 quake.
Malmesbury Abbey	131 m	431 ft	1500–1549 (49 years)	Church			Spire collapsed around 1500.
Lincoln Cathedral	159.7 m	524 ft	1549–1921 (372 years)	Church		Lincoln	Spire collapsed in 1549.
New Brighton Tower	172.8 m	567 ft	1921–1936 (15 years)	Lattice Tower		Liverpool	Dismantled from 1919 to 1921.
US Naval Radio Station Pearl Harbor, 3 identical towers^[15]	183 m	600 ft	1936–1938 (2 years)	Lattice Tower		Honolulu	Dismantled in 1936.
US Naval Radio Station Cayey, 3 identical towers^[16]	189 m	620 ft	1938–1944 (6 years)	Lattice Tower		Cayey, Puerto Rico	Demolished in 1938.
Lafayette transmitter, 8 identical towers	250 m	820 ft	1944–1982 (38 years)	Lattice Tower		Marcheprime	Towers 1 through to 7 demolished in 1944, tower 8 demolished in 1953.
Chimney #3 Matla Power Station Smokestack	276 m	906 ft	1982–1995 (13 years)	Chimney		Kriel	Demolished in 1982 after partially collapsing during construction.
Chimney of Marl-Chemiepark Power Station	300 m	984 ft	1995–2001 (6 years)	Chimney		Marl	Demolished in 1995.
2 World Trade Center	415.3 m	1,362 ft	1973–2001 (28 years)	Skyscraper		New York City	Destroyed on September 11, 2001.
1 World Trade Center	526.7 m	1,728 ft	1973–2001 (28 years)	Skyscraper		New York City	Destroyed on September 11, 2001. Tallest freestanding structure that no longer exists.

See also

• List of tallest structures by country
• List of tallest towers
• List of tallest chimneys
• List of tallest buildings and structures
• Lattice tower

Notes and References

1. See Tallest freestanding structures by skyscraperpage.com
2. Web site: Chimneys.
3. Web site: Tušimice power plant – demolition of 300 m chimney – en Libre spol. S r.o. .
4. Web site: Smoke Stack at R.E. Burger Plant in Dilles Bottom Comes Down.
5. Web site: Lafayette transmitter, Marcheprime | 1225903 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220307123930/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/1225903/lafayette-transmitter-marcheprime-france . dead . March 7, 2022 . Emporis . 2021-01-26.
6. Web site: Scratch one smokestack from the banks of the Mississippi | NewsCut | Minnesota Public Radio News . Blogs.mprnews.org . 2018-10-01 . 2021-01-26.
7. Web site: Novosemeykino Longwave Transmission Towers, Novosemeykino . SkyscraperPage.com . 2021-01-26.
8. Web site: Nicolas Janberg, Chief Editor . Novosemeykino Transmission Towers (Novosemeykino) . Structurae . 2021-01-26.
9. Web site: Komín v strojárňach zmizne, patrí k najvyšším stavbám. Petit Press . a.s.. sme.sk.
10. Web site: FirstEnergy Toronto Power Plant Demolition & Remediation . Independence Demolition . 2021-01-26.
11. Web site: St. Johns River Power Park | Electric Facilities| Electric Generation | About . JEA . 2021-01-26.
12. Web site: JEA St. John's River Power Park Hung Boiler Units and Chimney - Controlled Demolition, Inc. . YouTube . 2021-01-26.
13. Web site: What was that boom? Coal plant in Muskegon has been demolished . wzzm13.com . 11 January 2020. 2021-01-26.
14. Web site: Budget Demolition - Thunder Bay Generating Station - 650 Foot Stack Blast - Sept 09, 2021 . YouTube . 2022-05-02.
15. Web site: US Naval Radio Station Pearl Harbor - NPM . Navy-radio.com . 2021-01-26.
16. Web site: The Impact on Cayey, Puerto Rico of the Spanish American War: The Evolution of a Place Called Henry Barracks . 2021-01-26.