[TowerTalk] Unitary tower strength

[Gary]

Something I have always wanted to ask. Have you ever seen a tower come down due to a failed base?

73,
Joe kk0sd

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk <towertalk-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Dick Blumenstein
Sent: Saturday, April 7, 2018 12:24 PM
To: towerTalk at Contesting.com
Cc: Don Rasmussen <wb8yqj at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Unitary tower strength

Hi Don-

I can't provide specific info on adding a 30 foot crank up to your existing base and a section of the old tower.

All I can say is that my 72' steel US Tower required 6@ 1" diameter steel bolts at least 27" long into a concrete base that was 5' x 5' x 8.5' deep with intricate steel rebar cage. I looked at the US Tower spreadsheet by their structural engineer and, to say the least, it was unbelievably complicated to calculate the strength required for the max anticipated wind loads (105 mph)!!

I had to get a County permit to put up my tower.  Since I'm an engineer and a "by-the-book" kind of guy, I just pointed at the detailed installation specifications provided by the manufacturer (US Tower) and showed the County that I was following their directions.

I don't know exactly where your tower is/will be in relation to other structures, but a hodge-podge set up (i.e. not following the manufacturer's instructions) can be a legal nightmare in case it ever fails and falls on some one or some thing.

You also didn't state whether it is a steel crank-up (I assume it is).

Dick, K0CAT

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Don Rasmussen via TowerTalk wrote on 4/6/2018 10:38 PM:
> Hello All,
> Have a 30 foot aluminum tower mounted to a steel base in concrete.
> Would like to install a crankup mast in it's place.  Maybe a concrete bolt at the base of the crankup and use a house mount a few feet up against the old tower.
> If I cut the base tower section in half, wondering if what is left might be sturdy enough to bolt the crankup mast up against, or if the remaining base section would be so compromised by cutting it that it wouldbe worthless to use as a support.  Section could be cut just abovea set of horizontal cross members.
> Would be interested in any comments on this, or ways of convertinga Universal Tower 4-30 base output lugs into something strong enough to support the sway from a 30 foot crankup mast.
> de Wb8yqj Don
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