[TowerTalk] Re-Bar Cage Advise

[ersmar@comcast.net]

TT:

     To hold my tower's cage in place (it was a bit wobbly in the hole) prior to the concrete pour, I wire tied the top horizontal rebar pieces to the wooden form above ground.  I drove  few 16d duplex nails into the tops of the form around the perimeter.  Then I wired each top rebar element to a nail, pulling the wire tight.

     When the concrete pour reached within a foot of the top rebar, I cut the tie wires at the rebar and pulled them out.  Don't cut them after the pour is completed; you'll have small pieces of steel wire exposed to the elements and they'll corrode and expand, possibly damaging the top of the concrete and leaving a way for water to ingress.

     BTW - duplex nails have two heads on the end, separated by about a quarter-inch.  You drive these things into temporary wooden forms up to the first head.  This leaves a quarter-inch space above for your claw hammer, making it easy to remove the nails to disassemble the forms.  This nail space is where I tied off the wires holding the rebar cage during the pour.  You can also use ordinary nails driven part way into the top of the forms, but I had the duplex version on hand for the form itself.

73 de
Gene Smar  AD3F


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Red <RedHaines at centurytel.net>
> Hi, TTrs;

 I wired the 
> legs in place inside the cage and I blocked the cage and tower legs with 
> 2 X 4 members wedged against the sides of the hole to prevent movement 
> while pouring the initial foot or more of concrete.  Once that much 
> concrete was in the hole, I pulled out the 2 X 4 members with ropes I 
> had tied to them for that purpose and finished the pour. 
> 
> 
> 73 de WOØW
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