[TowerTalk] Newsline excerpt - 2000' Tower falls

[AA7NX@aol.com]

In a message dated 97-04-03 22:47:51 EST, K5KT@aol.com writes:

<<  Apparently, the tower basically just collapsed down on itself;
 therefore the 70' area for the tower wreckage is the accurate figure. >>

The idea that a large tower might fall in a very limited area around it's
base really doesn't surprise me too much. The guy lines should all be
presenting the same force, which would not deflect the tower. It is probably
very nearly perfectly vertical (especially a tower several hundred or
thousand feet tall - no slopping it in and then making up for the tilt with
an extra tug on a guy like I've seen done for more than a few ham towers).
The weight of the guys may even help to keep the whole mess centered as it
falls. I would expect the sections to be very symetrical in their weight
distribution. Not a lot of things to deflect the sections as they fall. Even
wind might not make a huge difference as the section of tower is being
accelerated downward with much more force than the wind would produce which
would lead me to believe that the vertical velocity would be MUCH GREATER
than any horizontal velocity imparted by wind. 

The guy lines are obviously not going to fall in a 70' radius, but I can
imagine a tower falling very nearly straight down upon itself and into the
ground. There just aren't a whole lot of reasons why it would go anywhere
else. Any comments? 

Mike  K7NT

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