I think right the opposite, the more you ask, the less ignorant you'll be. DCM has ordered to the steel shop to fabricate the mast steel more than 6 months ago.
First of all, let me clarify that once the tower reaches the roof, work will be devided in two separate projects: construction of the antenna with the erection of the roof and installing the mechanical systems.
Antenna
The antenna alone will weight about 400 tons and it will be assembled in 7 stacked sections that decrease in diameter the higher they go, there's an 8th section that will sit up above the rest that will form the beacon, the top of the 8th section will mark the 1776' elevation from Main Lobby.
These sections are all different between them, some of them will have as much as 20 sides while others will only have 4 sides, some will have a lattice steel structure while others will be made of steel plates with cut-out zones. The mast includes a variety of fabrication and construction methods so that transmission equipment can be inserted into it and can also give attachment points for antenna and satellite dishes.
The transition between sections will be achieved by using cast-steel connectors, this solves the problem of placing a structure above another one with different geometries.
The antenna will be anchored to the roof slab with 8 Kevlar guy wires, each of them being 8" thick. These cables will be made of aramid, a synthetic fiber that does not obstruct broadcast signal. (See picture below)
Cable of aramid fiber reinforcement
Larger version
Radome Enclosure
The radome enclosure was necessary not only for aesthetic purposes but will also solve practical issues with the antenna and the wind loads.
The enclosure will have attached stiffness due to the 2.5" thick panels made of fiberglass and foam (See picture below), this stiffness will help resist the wind load. Fiberglass and foam are radio-frequency “transparent” materials, and were selected in order to avoid problems with the broadcasting equipment.
Fiberglass-and-foam sandwich panel
The enclosure will also help protect personel at the maintenance areas inside the spire (platforms) and its repeating modular system will allow easy replacement in case they need to replace any section.
The radome will be assembled in 20 foot sections, all of them consisting of octagonal modules.
For further wind support, large helices or stakes will wrap the radome and will direct wind away from the mast, mitigating vortex shading and reducing structural fatigue. This, along with the guy wires, will help reduce the range of deflection to as much as 0.5 degrees in a constant 50 mile-per-hour wind,an engineering achievement...
Crown, or Communication Platform Ring
The three-level circular lattice ring will house microwave dishes, ENG antennas and whip-type radio antennas that television companies will use.
The Window Washing Track consists of 3 circular tracks located just below the lower platform ring and above the parapet line, it will allow three window-washing cranes to ride on it. These cranes will have telescoping arms, they will look similar to the Burj Khalifa's boom units (see image below).
May 2012?
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the radio antennae wont be visible
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