[TowerTalk] Tower Foundations, II

[K7LXC at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/12/2007 4:01:33 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,  
towertalk-request at contesting.com writes:

>  Zoning is clear, my small community here in Utah even has a  version of 
the 
PRB-1 on their books, in addition to county, state and  federal exemptions!

>  My stumbling block is the building  department; they want an engineer 
certified drawing of the 3x3x4 (or 5 or  6) reinforced concrete block. The 
real problem are the PE's, the least  expensive quote I have received so far 
is $350, and that's if I do the  drawing and spec the rebar cage!!


    $350 is pretty reasonable but I'm not sure how  you're going to spec the 
rebar cage yourself unless you use the factory  specs. 

>  Suggestions, ideas, on how to persuade the building  department that most 
of 
the nationally published drawings are virtually  the same and reflect good 
engineering practices?


That's what their building regulations are for.  Their codes reflect 
habitable buildings and they've probably never encountered  a tower application before 
so you're expected to comply with everything, even  if common sense tells you 
it's not really necessary. And a lot of times it  isn't. 

>  Are there good sources of generic drawings in addition to  the one in the 
ARRL antenna book?
 
    The Rohn catalog is an excellent source of  factory specs and drawings 
for guyed and self-supporting towers. Even if your  tower isn't a Rohn, you can 
still make some educated inferences. 
 
    Most building departments require PE stamped  packages these days. It's a 
cost of putting up a tower any more.  

>  Finally I know our building department will accept an  already "stamped" 
drawing from another source, at least they did for my  house which is only 
vaguely similar to the drawing they accepted, i.e.  it's rectangular and has 
a basement.
 
    That might be helpful but it's still THEIR game  and rules. 
 
Cheers,
Steve     K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for hams
Cell: 206-890-4188