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[TowerTalk] Concrete Strength

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Concrete Strength
From: ssouva@twcny.rr.com (Scott & Sherry Souva)
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 21:41:32 -0500
Steve and TT crew,

Thanks for the excellent information.  I can't wait for the white stuff to
melt and get started on this project.  There have been some really great
points made here.

I had not considered the ruts in the lawn issue.  Maybe I will wait until
things dry out before I put some monstrous concrete truck in my yard.  The
XYL will not be pleased.

It looks like everyone is suggesting a concrete mix of 3000 lbs. or greater.
I will price this and other mixes and schedule a date for the pour.

Steve (K7LXC) mentioned the problem of digging the hole.  I have really
wondered about this design.  A 3' X 3' X 6' deep hole is a tough thing to
dig.  Hand digging is out because the rocks are quite large here in Upstate
NY.  Also, this seems incredibly dangerous to do.  My neighbor runs a
backhoe business on the side and has all the right toys.  I will ask him for
ideas.  I suspect that the hole will be a bit larger than 3' X 3'.

Thanks everyone.  73.

Scott Souva
ssouva@twcny.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: <K7LXC@aol.com>
To: <ssouva@twcny.rr.com>; <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2001 5:52 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Concrete Strength


> In a message dated 3/19/01 2:18:48 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> ssouva@twcny.rr.com writes:
>
> > I am putting up a US Tower TX-455 in about 4-6 weeks.  When I priced the
> >  concrete delivery, the first question was; "What strength do you want?"
> >  Examples given were 1500 lb., 2000 lb., etc.  I asked a US Tower
> >  representative, but they didn't know.  Any recommendations from the
list
> >  would greatly be appreciated.
>
>     Okay, concrete. According to the US Tower Foundation Notes - General,
it
> calls for "minimum compressive strength of 3,000 psi @ 28 days". This is
> pretty a typical contractor-type mix. On the foundation drawing notes it
> calls for 2500 psi. Take your pick.
>
>     Here's something that I'm trying to change in regard to US Tower
> installations. It's almost impossible to dig some of the holes that are on
> their drawings and in their catalog. For example, your tower in the
catalog
> calls for a 3' x3' x 6'6" deep hole. This is impossible for a backhoe to
dig.
> There's not enough room to articulate the bucket and do the excavation.
You
> can't dig it by hand; not only is it dangerous but also there's not enough
> room to use a shovel. I don't think anyone from UST has actually installed
> one of these bases - it's really a stupid design. My advice is to get an
> engineer to design a more "practical" configuration.
>
>     I always try to get the anchor bolts and base fixture sent a month or
so
> ahead of the tower delivery so that you can install them and allow a
couple
> of weeks for concrete curing. Then when the tower arrives, you have a
> boomtruck or backhoe meet the truck and unload the tower and then carry
the
> tower over to the base and drop it in place. This way you only have to
have
> the boomtruck/backhoe to show up once instead of twice.
>
>     You can either make a wood template to hold the anchor bolts in place
> while you're pouring or weld them together with some rebar. In both cases,
> you're trying to hold the anchor rods in the proper alignment during the
> pour. Either tie the rods to the rebar cage or space it above the forms
with
> a 2x4 under the base fixture.
>
>     It's a bunch of work but it'll be worth it. Drop me a line if you've
got
> any more questions - I've installed a number of these and other towers.
>
> Cheers, Steve     K7LXC
> Tower Tech
>


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