[TowerTalk] re Can Any Tower Handle Cat 5+ Hurricane?

[Rob Atkinson, K5UJ]

In Katrina some towers came down; some stayed up.  (I'm talking about 
commercial towers.)   It should be no surprise that it comes down to money.  
  Kinetic energy is the square of the speed.   As wind speed goes up, 
survival costs increase rapidly.   WLW's radio and tv made it.  But a few 
years ago, the company spent 6 million bucks on tx towers that could survive 
a super hurricane (can't remember the category).   They were one of the few 
(maybe the only one is New Orleans) broadcasters that stayed on.  There are 
no guarantees in this world when it comes to nature, but your chances can be 
improved but at enormous cost.  most businesses think, "Okay, what are the 
chances we will need this much hardening?"  Then they think, "For this much 
money, we could rebuild x no. of times with regular structural strength."   
Then they get insurance if they can, and keep their fingers crossed.  BTW, 
the WLW engineering staff should get a standing ovation at the next SBE 
meeting.

rob/k5uj

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