[TowerTalk] Tower Incidents

[Patrick Greenlee]

There is a process called oxygen deprivation corrosion that can in some 
instances rapidly corrode stainless steel.  Not claiming that to be the 
culprit in this case, just offering up one suspect for the lineup.

Patrick        NJ5G

On 6/21/2016 9:05 AM, Jim Thomson wrote:
> Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2016 07:42:12 -0400
> From: Herbert Schoenbohm <herbert.schoenbohm at gmail.com>
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower Incidents
>
> I know of an incident in St. Thomas where a fall protection system
> actually failed. My son a Comtrain certified instructor where preparing
> for a 225 foot climb and the owner of the tower, the biggest owner of
> towers across the country, required that any climber must use the fall
> protection system installed on it.  His co-worker was up first at 100
> feet and took a short rest with his weight, about 200 lbs, on the
> cable.  Than bang the cable broke at the fitting at the top and down he
> came. Fortunately a microwave dish at 40 feet broke his fall but he was
> still badly injured with many broken bones when he finally hit the
> ground.  What added insult to injury was the cable came down on top of
> him as well. My son called for help while removing the tangle mess and
> stabilizing the victim.  The co--worker survived after several months in
> the hospital.  Ironically while my son was visiting in the hospital
> there were five lawyers waiting outside to handle the case.  The
> settlement was close to a million dollars. The tower had also been
> inspected by a mainland company only a month before the incident.
> Everybody lawyer-ed up and was litigating against each other before it
> was all over.  But here is a case were the very component designed to
> save a life nearly cy caused the loss of one.
>
> The problem was eventually traced to internal cable corrosion where the
> cable connected at the top of the tower.  Apart from replacing
> everything every 5 years the internal rot on stainless fittings is
> nearly impossible to detect. The hook and unhook with two fall arrest
> cords IMHO the best way to climb. It takes more time but it is safer.
>
> ##  so whats the difference between the safety cable..and any portion
> of a guy wire system ??   Both use EHS guy cable..and both use pre-form
> dead ends. Both use thimbles.  The safety cable setup doesnt require any
> egg insulators, and also uses  .375 inch EHS...but that is about it.
> How do you..rot  SS ??   One huge forged eye bolt, and double nutted at top of tower,
> and a thimble and .375 ehs cable, and a pre-form dead end is about all you need at the
> top of a tower.
>
> Jim  VE7RF
>
>
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