[TowerTalk] 70-ft Debris Radius?

Joe Spinosa Spinosa@msn.com
Fri, 4 Apr 97 04:34:03 UT


Hi Roger,

I can tell you that when I applied for a permit to erect a tower in my city, 
part of the reason they denied it was that they felt that if it ever collapsed 
it could/would destroy neighboring property.

In fact, they wanted a huge margin.  If the tower was going to be 50 feet 
tall, they would want at least 75 feet of clearance in all directions.

This notion has physically been shown to be false.  I can't remember the exact 
specification, but its something like 33% of the height of the tower.  In 
other words, a 50' tower should fail/fall into a circle about 17' in diameter.

I'm not an engineer, but that's what I'm told.

I think the numbers are important to show municipalities like mine, because 
it's one of those aspects of engineering that seems to be counter-intuitive to 
the lay-person.

Oh, and by the way, NEVER move to Concord, California if you want to erect a 
tower:-)

Best Regards,
Joe Spinosa
KF6CWX
Concord, CA

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