[TowerTalk] Tower ACCIDENT

[jeremy-ca]

If you read my comments again you will find that I said to use that same 
base plate. Sorry, but I didnt think it was necessary to have to repeat 
myself about the pin.

Carl
KM1H



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Daron J. Wilson" <daron at wilson.org>
To: "'jeremy-ca'" <km1h at jeremy.mv.com>; <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 10:36 AM
Subject: RE: [TowerTalk] Tower ACCIDENT


>
>> New tower construction should always use a base plate and pier pin if the
>> only support is guy wires. If house bracketed then a minimum of 2 
>> brackets
>> is required. The base should be a standard base plate but with one hole 
>> at
>> each corner and secured to the concrete with 3/4"  J bolts.
>>
>> An existing tower that was installed without drainage MAY have its life
>> extended by drilling those small holes I mentioned. Then with ~ 3/16"
>> tubing
>> inserted down to the bottom regularly pump out any water. There are ways
>> to
>> derust the legs and seal against further rust but its an iffy proposition
>> when you cant tell the extent of the damage.
>
> I'm not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV, but I have a hunch that if 
> you
> install a pre engineered tower (such as the Rohn 25) and you modify the
> supporting structure (drilling holes anywhere) that you are going to be
> violating that engineering.  I just suspect that if you did have problems
> with the tower, the FIRST question is going to be 'was it installed 
> exactly
> as engineered'?  If your response is 'well, no, I drilled some extra holes
> in it...' your liability is going to drastically increase.
>
> While I agree that J bolts in the foundation sound better, when I do these
> small towers for commercial installations I still order that stupid $10 
> Rohn
> pier pin instead of using a "J" bolt...because that is the way it was
> engineered and I can hang my hat on that engineered drawing.
>
> Your mileage may vary of course...
>
> 73 N7HQR
>
>