[TowerTalk] Learning from Tragedies

[Donald Chester]

Dennis OConnor ad4hk2004 at yahoo.com Sat Oct 13 14:18:23 EDT 2018 wrote:

> I always rope guy near the top of the section I am standing on while I am setting the next section. 
> Then every 30 feet I install the permanent guys with enough tension to make the tower stable (and straight by eye).
> So the drill is, set a section and bolt it, stand one rung (or two) up on the free standing section and move the rope guys 
> to the second rung below the top by reaching up,  move the gin pole and pull the next section.  
> I am careful not to swing my weight around while I am standing just above the free standing two sections 
> and moving the ropes up on the third. By being methodical I have never had a scary moment.

I put up my 127' of 25G single-handedly, with only minimal help on the ground.  Mine uses a pier-pin at the base (salvaged broadcast tower base insulator), so I  temporarily guyed the first section at 10', then temporarily guyed each 10' section as I went up, until the 1st 30 ft permanent guys  were attached.  The temporary guys were taken down and the wire re-used for higher sections.  Same procedure to each permanent set of guys at 60', 90' and 120'.

I used #10 copperweld for temporary guys, since I had a large roll on hand, attached with small U-bolt clamps.  I never felt secure standing on a tower section more than 10' above the highest guyed section.  I could stand on the ground and say with confidence yes, I know the tower is engineered so that those unguyed sections aren't going going to fall over or break with me on it, but I never could convince myself the same when standing on an unguyed section and feeling the tower sway whenever I switched my weight.  The temporary guys made the tower feel solid and stable and allowed me to work with ease.  Even if the temporary guys provided little real protection, being able to work relaxed, versus being nervous and tensed up, IMO made the job a lot safer with less likelihood to commit a dangerous error.

I put up that tower in 1981 using only a Rohn gin pole and a Korean War era Signal Corps climbing belt, but carried an extra lanyard to make sure I was attached to the tower at all times, including when passing over a permanent guy point.  To-day I use a full body harness and extra fall arrest lanyard when working on the tower.

I feel  safe working at heights as long as I'm sure the  structure I am standing on is secure, and I'm tethered 100% of the time.  You will likely be just as dead falling from 30' as falling  from 130'. I would never bet my life on a guy wire attached only with a shackle.  I have always made sure the permanent guys were secured via the turnbuckles and the tower sections approximately plumbed before proceeding to the next level.  The turnbuckles can be finally re-adjusted from the ground once the tower is fully stacked.  It took a while to put up the tower, working on weekends and days off from work, since I was able to put up only a couple of sections at a time, but this allowed me to check and re-check my work as I proceeded.

Don k4kyv