[TowerTalk] Guy Anchor Failure

[wa3gin@erols.com (David Jordan)]

Folks,

The earth anchors operate somewhat like an inverted foundation pillar.
If you vision the pillar with the weight of the building being
transferred from the vertical I-beam to the foundation and the this
weight being dispersed in an imaginary pyramid beneath the I-beam.  The
earth anchor works in the inverse...the pull on the small disk at the
end of the anchor is distributing the pull forces to the grains of soil
back towards the surface with the forces spreading both upward along the
anchor and outward (again to visualize imagine the point of the pyramid
being at the disk of the anchor and the base being at the surface of the
earth).  That is why earth anchors ability to hold is very dependent on
the type of soil conditions available...the ability of the soil to
compact under stress.

Have Fun,
dave
WA3GIN


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