Don,
I'm a geotechnical engineer, and frequently provide recommendations
for foundations for antenna towers (typically commercial towers, as
residential towers usually don't require engineering in our area).
Typically I'll give advice for free to other hams, especially those in
my local club. You may be able to find a local engineer through your
local club that may be willing to talk to you for free, and provide
some reduced cost engineering. Otherwise, if you look in the phone
book for a structural engineer or a geotechnical engineer they will be
able to help you. And may even provide some verbal recommendations
over the phone.
I don't see any inherent problems with the water, especially if the
soil is sandy. There are quite a few different foundation systems
that can be used under a tower, and the tower company only provides
one option that works in most areas. The idea with a huge mass of
concrete under the tower is that it will help resist any overturning
forces from wind that wants to push your tower over. There are other
means to achieve the same end, but they usually require an engineer to
provide recommendations. Its always worth a phone call to someone who
knows your underground situation, and can provide some pretty sound
advice. They'll know your local building codes and the building
inspectors, as well, and will know what you will need to do to appease
both.
73
Brian, KF7OVD
On Wed, May 27, 2020 at 4:44 PM Don Solberg <dsolberg8132@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I was planning on purchasing a used US Tower HDX-572, 72 ft crank up
> tower. It looks like I may have run into a problem with the foundation. I
> had some trenching done today for a new well and discovered that the ground
> water level is just slightly lower than 6ft. US Tower specifications call
> from a 7.5 foot deep hole. My soil is mostly sand, so in addition to not
> being able to go down 7.5 ft, I probably also want to make the foundation
> wider.
>
> Is it practical to put up the 72ft tower with a wider pad, or should I look
> at getting a smaller 55ft tower? Another alternative is find another
> location for the tower. I have about a 10 ft hill on another property that
> I own across a gravel road. This would most likely eliminate the ground
> water problem but I would have about a 300 ft cable run and I would have to
> trench across the town's gravel road.
>
> I am looking for recommendations.
>
> 73,
>
> Don K9AQ
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