[TowerTalk] Interesting Info

[Byron Tatum]

Hello-
    This week we had a construction / concrete contractor tearing out the old asphault driveway and replacing it with concrete.The asphault was underlayed with fairly thick rock and he was using a fair sized trackhoe to excavate it out.
    I had a damaged 25-G base { about 15' away from driveway, was hit by a worker here last year} , this tower was one of the corners for a 580 foot loop { HOHP } using 4 of 55 foot 25-G towers. The base 10' section was set 5' into the ground with close to a yard of concrete and some rebar. He assured me that he could remove the tower base with the trackhoe. He bit at the concrete base and pulled/pushed against it, rocking it back and forth a couple of times.Then we tied onto the 4-1/2' tower stub with a good sized chain attached to trackhoe bucket.We went around all 3 legs and under crossbraces, etc. The chain ended up actually pulling apart the entire tower base piece, actually shearing off the leg sections, but it did allow the concrete mass to move upward about 1' out of the hole. We had to tie around the concrete and then pulled the mass out in one piece.
    I do have to say that this is the first time that I ever have re-used a tower base hole!! Boy, it saved me some work for sure.Just a tidbit of info in case someone else may be faced with a similiar situation as this. CUL, Byron WA5THJ.