In a message dated 7/14/2007 7:14:10 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
towertalk-request@contesting.com writes:
> I was trying to sell my father's 50' Glen Martin (18" side) tower and
Hazer when my wife (to my pleasure and surprise) decided she would be OK if
there were guy wires in our backyard if that got me on the air (gotta love
her).
My father, N0JT, has sadly reached the point at nearly 84 where declining
health makes getting on the air a taxing event that yields less enjoyment than
effort. I don't have a tower and he is giving this to me.
> However...her one request is that the top of the concrete be at least a
few inches below ground so if/when we move, we can cover the spot and seed
it...no harm, no foul.
> I am concerned about water accumulation/corrosion/structural weakness to
the concrete, and wonder if that is as much an issue as I think it is. If
so, my thought is to have the back how dig a trench away from the tower which
I would partially fill with large gravel, like a lateral for a septic system.
I would then place a PVC pipe at the side of the concrete pour with a drain
opening on it, and slightly contour the top of the concrete toward that
drain opening.
> Hopefully water would flow toward the drain, down the pipe/through its L
and drain out along the gravel.
> Is this reasonable? Necessary? Not enough? Or am I missing something?
Hiya, Art --
Having some wet dirt around your tower legs isn't necessarily fatal. Is
it a hot-dipped galvanized steel tower in good shape? If so, it'll take a
modicum of abuse and might fail in 10-15 years.
Apparently you're in MO and I'm not sure how wet and acidic your soil
is.
There are a couple of options. Move before it becomes a problem. Pour a
regular pad a couple of inches AGL (above ground level) and then spent a
couple of bucks to rent an electric jackhammer to get it down aways. Put some
grout or other material just up the leg to above ground level. Or use the
tried
and true W3LPL method of painting on a bunch of roofing tar to the parts
that'll be touching the dirt. Pretty simple and effective.
> P.S. Most tower mfrs. spec-out with 3000 PSI concrete; is it generally
worth paying the extra for 5000 PSI?
For a typical installation - no. I order 5000 psi concrete all the time and
the reason is that I'm installing a tower and I want to do it all in one
trip. 5kpsi will cure to 2500-3000 in a couple of days instead of 28 days so
you
can pour on Monday and erect the tower on Wednesday.
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for hams
Cell: 206-890-4188
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