r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/GeorgeRobertVitkos • 1d ago

Video Controlled collapse of the 355-meter RKS Liblice 2 radio masts (October 15, 2026)

2.2k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

79 comments sorted by

295

u/Rigman- 1d ago

Throwback to Caspian Border.

61

u/AdGlobal2172 1d ago

Fk that particular sniper on top of it

18

u/itwasneversafe 1d ago

Yeah, usually with a shitlod of C4 at the bottom.

2

u/Micromagos 16h ago

I swear I mastered jets just to strafe them to death.

29

u/WaffelsBR 1d ago

Elite ball knowledge

17

u/Cheezis_Chrust 1d ago

When you hear those cables snap, you better be ready to jump.

9

u/KiefKommando 1d ago

First thing I thought of

3

u/Jaded_Helicopter_376 1d ago

Every time I got up there to snipe, I would get taken out instantly lol

71

u/opaldewberry 1d ago

Seems the radio towers were built in 1976 in Liblice (Czech Republic). They were then felled on October 15th 2026.

14

u/mca1169 1d ago

why were they taken down?

42

u/floof29 1d ago

Decominisiomed, there was no use for them, no one wanted to buy them and leaving them standing to rot would be a ticking time bomb.

10

u/Familiar_Plankton 1d ago

No use and they needed high costly repairs.

97

u/True_Dog_4098 1d ago

And to think, people climb those towers to do repairs.

65

u/LazyEmu5073 1d ago

Under normal use, the guy wires are all at the same tension, so it's safe/strong.

They will have altered the tensions for this demolition, and added explosives at the points where they kinked.

18

u/JuanMcGuiver 1d ago

Rigging the explosives on them joints must be a ballsy job 😬

16

u/axonxorz 1d ago

Honestly, watching the people that go to the top to service the beacon lights, watching how the final leg of the climb has the worst harness attachment points (yes, I know there's a reason they're that way) makes me think that bringing up some squishy brown and blasting caps is only a marginal increase in perceived risk.

I work for a company who has a lot of 100/150ft towers. Even those climbers are a particular breed.

10

u/ramkitty 1d ago

I do not enjoy the tops of our 100s but most are on top of mountains and some have sheer clips on the side. Trusting the gear helps. The video of the old guy climbing up was cool until "at this point I have to unclip" my hands instantly went sweaty. Using a heli to mount an antenna is pretty baller though.

6

u/Jazzy-Cat5138 1d ago

What's the issues with the harness attachment points at the top?

11

u/axonxorz 1d ago

At the top of these super tall towers, the actual tower body often becomes basically a big pole, sometimes skinnier than the climber.

Instead of (essentially) a closed ladder-rung to clip your lanyards onto, there are metal rods with a short lip sticking out of the sides (and sometimes the back) of these segments. As there's nothing with a closed loop to properly secure a pelican-style clip onto, you have to throw a rope around the whole segment and your climbing gear. As you continue to ascend, you have to stop and kinda lasso the rope onto the next upward rungs, which are also your footholds.

5

u/the_seed 22h ago

No thanks

1

u/CharlesDickensABox Interested 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don't think you have to climb it to do that. You could blow it pretty easily without ever leaving the ground.

1

u/CircularRobert 21h ago

If you want to hit something about 355m away, yes. If you want to keep the collapse contained, you. Eed to climb up and segment the spire

19

u/Shopworn_Soul 1d ago

I worked on towers for a year or two.

Honestly one of the best and most enjoyable jobs I ever had.

108

u/jonnyh420 1d ago

did anyone inform the birds in those trees?

108

u/HumanBeing7396 1d ago

They sent them a tweet.

20

u/Inside_Beyond4260 1d ago

Usually, you set off a firecracker beforehand (known in Germany as a ‘Vogelschreck’ (bird scarer?)) to scare away the animals in the area.

1

u/Mental_Thing_7899 1d ago

If every bird in those nests know how to fly.......

5

u/Tuchanka666 1d ago

Not many birds, if any at all, nesting in October

3

u/desitik 1d ago

Oh boy animal rescue people are going to be mad.

25

u/nlundorf 1d ago

Ok, that looked cool.

26

u/Spiritual-Ad-4916 1d ago

I saw uncotrolled collapse 646m, was highest radio tower in the world, is not anymore

12

u/TophetLoader 1d ago

Maszt w Konstantynowie

5

u/AlcibiadesTheCat 1d ago

Used to be Isztanbuł?

3

u/YellowOnline 18h ago

This joke deserves more love

1

u/Spiritual-Ad-4916 13h ago

dont get it, cap?

5

u/YellowOnline 12h ago

Konstantynowie is a variant of Constantinople in Polish. Constantinople is nowadays called Istanbul. Isztanbuł is a mock-Polish version of Istanbul (it's apparently Stambuł in Polish btw)

1

u/TophetLoader 2h ago

Are you serious? The mast wa 100 km West from Warsaw.

0

u/Familiar_Plankton 1d ago

Also uncontrolled collapse of two 417m tall towers.

7

u/41PaulaStreet 1d ago

Those people standing nearby had a lot of confidence in whoever set those demolition charges.

2

u/ZippyDan 21h ago

Where do you see people standing nearby?

2

u/CircularRobert 21h ago

Just make sure you're 356m away

4

u/Bytevan18 1d ago

Video kill the radio towers I guess.

5

u/PebblestheHuman 1d ago

Fell to my knees in a (future) walmart parking lot lol

1

u/El_Peregrine 1d ago

Slow motion knee slide…

6

u/TheJeep25 1d ago

The one that fell straight up and dug itself into the ground will be a bitch to get out lol

4

u/TheRealJayk0b 1d ago

Battlefield 3, ba ba ba dam dam dam, 💥

3

u/theplushpairing 1d ago

Timberrrrrr

1

u/CardiologistMobile54 1d ago

More like metallllllll

3

u/ChrisG140907 1d ago

Looks like they left the top/longest wires to prevent lateral movement in the top, to stop it falling in full lenght

3

u/mifoonlives 1d ago

I dont know why this makes me sad. Those look like they could send signal mars.

1

u/Boatster_McBoat 1d ago

They were so graceful. It was very poignant

5

u/Billy_TheMumblefish 1d ago

Guys in a flat bed Transit already on their way to grab the scrap metal.

2

u/Tomollins 1d ago

How can they be when they are trolling the alley behind my house on trash day.

2

u/GrandeVin 1d ago

Looked like it flipped people off as it went down

2

u/chucchinchilla 1d ago

Better watched in reverse.

2

u/5elementGG 1d ago

How did they build it the first place?

10

u/newagereject 22h ago

Usually start with cranes, then switch to choppers

1

u/5elementGG 21h ago

Ah. Make sense.

6

u/weristjonsnow 22h ago

Probably started towards to bottom

1

u/Embarrassed_Rip_755 9h ago

Just like this but in reverse!

1

u/LordGarak 18h ago edited 17h ago

It might have been done with just a large gin pole. Essentially, a long section of tower that is winched up the side of the tower that is used to winch up shorter sections and then lowered down when the tower is topped out. The first few sections and the gin pole would be put up with a crane to start with.

Here is an example of a smaller scale tower going up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBlhJJkGzwM

I've seen videos of much larger towers being built this way but I can't find one at the moment.

Edit: Here is a larger scale example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XaengdHY-E

It is removing an antenna, but its the same process as building a tower just in reverse.

1

u/5elementGG 13h ago

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

2

u/rennradrobo 1d ago

Look at the rust slapping out of the cables when the top piece touches ground. Wowy

2

u/CardiologistMobile54 1d ago

Radio is dead

1

u/CFCYYZ 1d ago

Gone in 20 seconds

1

u/wnr3 1d ago

Hell yeah. Sky is free again.

5

u/MikePlays_ 1d ago

And yet some locals wanted to keep them.

It however had no good use and wasn't exactly cheap to maintain, so it had to go.

1

u/Banned3rdTimesaCharm 1d ago

The sounds and scale of this makes it seem sci fi ish.

1

u/Bit_the_Bullitt 1d ago

Man would love to see that from a drone

1

u/Oops_All_Bans 1d ago

First it started falling over, then it fell over.

1

u/EuphoricPersona 15h ago

I’ve lived near them for almost my whole life. Such an iconic building

1

u/42watson 3h ago

Now imagine them doing that with a space elevator

0

u/summertimebelly 1d ago

More fall resistance then two other buildings iirc

0

u/Real_Independence877 14h ago

911 was more impresssive/scary