[TowerTalk] Tower buried section legs -- Buried in Concrete or Below the Concrete?

[john at kk9a.com]

I did exactly that with the Universal towers that I previously owned,
however the bases were square tubes with plate welded on the side for
mounting to the tower.  I am not sure how you can fill the complete Rohn
section up with concrete and still get the bolts in.  If you leave the
concrete lower than the top of the section, some of it will still have
water inside, unless you drill drain holes. I used taper pier pin bases on
all of my Rohn towers so this is not an issue for me.

John KK9A


To:	TowerTalk <towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject:	[TowerTalk] Tower buried section legs -- Buried in Concrete
or	Below the Concrete?
From:	Larry Loen <lwloen at gmail.com>
Date:	Fri, 29 Jan 2016 05:17:47 -0700

The Rohn spec calls for the legs of the bottom section to be buried a few
inches in pea gravel below the concrete.  My contractor suggests that as
long as the top is properly sealed, it's overkill and that overall, it's
better to encase the legs in concrete, protecting them from corrosion from
that rare day in Arizona that the water levels would reach the bottom of
the tower.  He suggests that the tower will be adequately sealed on top.
Soil here is acidic enough that I've been advised not to let the tower
sections touch the ground for even the short time they are stored here
awaiting erection.  Even if some got in over the years, rainwater is
presumably less acidic.

I don't try to innovate in these matters, but I wonder who is right here.

Thoughts?


Larry WO7R