Fred, here is my thought process comparing tower engineering programs to
spreadsheet programs.
Spreadsheets just do well established mathematical operations (sums,
differences, percentages, etc.) on functions that are generated by the end
user. All results are solely dependent on the creation of appropriate
models by the end user and any safety factors he might build into his models
are his and his alone. The spread sheet is no more than a multi-dimensional
calculator.
A tower modeling program, on the other hand, is a collection of formulas and
safety factors developed by the author of the program for which the end user
has little or no control, especially the unsophisticated end user who is
solely dependent on the assumptions and accuracy of the model.
Tower modeling is made even more complex because it is dependent not only on
the accuracy of the models which are developed by the author, but also
dependent on the accuracy of the data provided by the end user--soil
characteristics, etc, and by the performance of the person doing the
installation. And this is where the lawyers (and expenses) get involved.
Was it the model that was wrong, or was it the end user's data that was
entered into the program that was wrong, or was there a problem with the
installation itself. Lotsa room for finger pointing here. I have been an
expert witness in three way finger pointing cases--only fun when you're the
one making the big bucks no matter which way it goes.
If I were to provide a stand alone tower modeling program and the tower fell
down I think I would stand a good chance of being sued no matter what. If I
provided a tower modeling program that ran under Lotus 1-2-3 I would still
get sued, and Lotus might even get sued (deep pockets) but would probably
win because their program only provided mathematical functions such as 2+2,
but made no assumptions as to strength of materials or suitability.
But then I am no lawyer.............
73 John W0UN
PS Possibly a better comparison can be made between tower modeling programs
and tax preparation programs. The end user is subject to the assumptions
and models in the tax program. Maybe the CYA disclaimer of a tax program is
strong enough--especially if the tower program is sold only as a preliminary
design program and advises everyone to have the results signed off by a PE
in the state of use. But then I think one should be able to sue the IRS for
bad advice but they have their own disclaimer!
John Brosnahan
La Salle Research Corp 24115 WCR 40 La Salle, CO 80645 USA
voice 970-284-6602 fax 970-284-0979 email broz@csn.net
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