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Re: [TowerTalk] tower installation HG52SS / options

To: "'Tower and HF antenna construction topics.'" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] tower installation HG52SS / options
From: "Ivan Shapiro \(KB1STH\)" <kb1sth@ivanshapiro.com>
Reply-to: "Tower and HF antenna construction topics." <towertalk@contesting.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:10:46 -0500
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Answer to question posed:
I exceeded what the vendor of the Jacobs turbine and tower told me, and BTW
he is not associated with the company.
He said "sauna tubes" at the places where tower legs touched the ground.

I thought better to have extra concrete for weight.  But I thought also that
it would be a good idea to have that weight "Pinned" into the rock with
three holes with rebar tied to the rebar in the 19 x 18 x 19 triangular
base, 4 feet thick.  I thought that this way the tower would (hopefully) not
pull the concrete base since it was pinned to the rock.

I am not an engineer and have no experience with things like this.
Also....new ham.
73
Ivan
KB1STH


-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of jimlux
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2010 1:10 PM
To: Tower and HF antenna construction topics.
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] tower installation HG52SS / options

Ivan Shapiro (KB1STH) wrote:
> My QTH/property is on rock.  In fact in many places the rock protrudes
above
> the grass.
> We put up a 120 foot free-standing tower for a Jacobs wind turbine 11
years
> ago.
> After getting down as deep as we could with a big backhoe I had a company
> come in with their rock-boring machine.
> We had three cylindrical holes drilled.  Each one is 18 inches in diameter
> by eight feet deep.
> Filled this with rebar first.
> Tied the rebar to the rebar cage inside the forms.  Forms were four feet
> high, with about 2 feet protruding below grade.
> Forms were nineteen feet on a side.  We poured around 27 or 28 cubic yards
> of concrete.  Of course we insured that the anchors and first 20 feet of
the
> tower were plumb".
> 
> I never wanted to have to do any repairs to the base, and I think we have
> achieved that goal.
> Just wondering, however, whether you think this was way too much overkill.
> Thanks
> Ivan
> KB1STH


  I'd think that a wind turbine is a fairly hefty load.. and on a 120ft 
pole, too!.. just a bit more load than a 50 foot tower in a 50 mi/hr 
wind<grin>.  That's similar to what they do around here in Southern 
California (rock is close to surface, but is often "loosely consolidated 
quaternary sediment"... basically 20,000 year old dry mud and gravel), 
particularly in non-flat areas.. they drill a 18-48" diameter hole, drop 
in a rebar cage, fill with concrete, bolt to top. Designwise, it's the 
same sort of idea as driving piles in areas with more soil, except you 
drill the hole and then build the column in place, rather than hammering 
it into the ground like a giant tent stake.

Here's the question: How did you decide on what to do?
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