[TowerTalk] Rebar Cage Question

[Roger White]

For my HDX555 last year, I built my cage in the hole (actually my son did) 
with no problems. All of the rebar pieces were cut to the drawing specs 
prior to assembly. I had the horizontal pieces (square loops) bent at the 
rebar supplier (no cost to bend into shape). I just handed my son the 
vertical rods and he wire wrapped the loops starting at the bottom and just 
built it up like a big puzzle. As the cage got bigger, we kept it vertical 
by supporting it at a few places with short lengths of 1X2's shoved into the 
hole wall. This kept the cage fairly vertical. We removed the wood braces 
after we got it up to the proper height. We probably over tied the joints, 
but it did not move or collapse when we had 10 yards of concrete dumped in. 
We tied the top of the cage to the wood frame securely at 8 points around 
the cage. It never did move.

Roger W5RDW
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andre Van Wyk" <kr5dx at yahoo.com>
To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
Cc: <k4kyv at hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 10:29 AM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Rebar Cage Question


>I think the main thing to remember is that the purpose of the welding or
> wire for that matter is to keep the rebar cage in tact until it has been
> covered in concrete. Once the concrete cures, it makes NO difference. I
> welded a few cages myself and if you can weld, this is no big deal. If
> you cannot weld, buy a roll binding wire and get it over with.
>
> Either way, as long as you cage can be kept in tact until you done the
> pour, you are OK
>
> Good luck with the project!
>
> de KR5DX
>
> Dr M J DiGirolamo wrote:
>> Don,
>>
>>
>>
>>    I built my cage from "weld quality rebar" and it was welded by a 
>> friend.
>> My friend is a certified master welder at a nuclear power plant here in
>> Virginia.  It took him the better part of a day to do all the work for 
>> me.
>> Believe me, he knew what he was doing and it still took him that long.
>> Fortunately he did it as a friend, free of charge!  It weighed over 400#
>> when done.  This cage was built to spec for a USTower 72' stand alone 
>> series
>> of towers.   I wanted to employ a Ufer ground and that calls for a welded
>> cage.  As mentioned in another post, it requires a special type of rebar
>> (quality of metal mix is monitored) and it's only a little more expensive
>> should you decide to go that way.
>>
>>
>>
>>      Drop me a note if you would like some photos and keep us posted
>> regarding your progress.
>>
>>
>>
>> 73,
>>
>>
>>
>> Mike DiGirolamo, W4XN
>>
>> Charlottesville, VA
>>
>>
>>
>> 73,
>>
>>
>>
>> Mike, W4XN
>>
>> ----------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>> Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:21:26 +0000
>>
>> From: Donald Chester <k4kyv at hotmail.com>
>>
>> Subject: [TowerTalk] Rebar Cage Question
>>
>> To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
>>
>> Message-ID: <BLU113-W605AC74CBAF2140D0D56ECF4FB0 at phx.gbl>
>>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I have heard it said many times that one should not weld the rebar cage
>> together, but tie it together using tie wires.  But I have never heard 
>> any
>> explanation of why.
>>
>>
>>
>> What problems would be caused by welding?  I can't see how such a minor
>> detail would make any significant difference, but a welded cage is 
>> certainly
>> easier to handle before the concrete is poured in, and less likely to 
>> fall
>> apart just as the  concrete is being dumped.
>>
>>
>>
>> Don k4kyv
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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