[TowerTalk] Adding guys to self supporting towers

[Jim Lux]

On 8/13/13 7:01 AM, K7LXC at aol.com wrote:
>>   The topic of adding guys to self supporting towers has  been

>>   Comments?
>
>      BUT IMO if the guys have little or no tension on  them, then they don't
> add appreciably to the compression on the legs but some of  the wind forces
> are transferred from the legs to the guy wires which is the  purpose of the
> guys. Guys in this case are more tethers than guys; that is, they  limit
> the forces on the legs without adding much to the total leg load.


Working along the "tether" angle... The guys might also help with 
restricting the potential "fall zone" of a failed tower.  With the guys 
of sufficient strength, the tower isn't going to fall over and lay out 
full length.  That might help (if if not strictly defensible in an 
engineering sense) in a permitting process.

This is like the cables used to hold lighting fixtures above the 
audience. If the mounting fails for some reason, the light doesn't come 
crashing down on someone's head.