Hi Bob,
I got a note from the guy who bought the damaged tower.
Both of our recollections have faded as this was at least
10 years ago, maybe more. He did comment that there
were several broken WELDS in the upper sections,
indicating a possible welding quality problem at the time.
Presumably these upper welds broke on impact when
the tower fell. Certainly a broken weld on one of the
bottom tapered section is a possible / probable cause
of the tower failure. I still contend that the addition
of a horizontal brace would significantly improve the
safety margin of the Heights aluminum towers.
The tower in question consisted of 10 alternating
tapered and straight sections for a total height of 80 ft.
I believe the collapsed leg was on the bottom section.
de Tom N4KG
On Sat, 11 Dec 1999 12:22:57 EST ROBKEL@aol.com writes:
> Tom:
> I have some questions about the facts regarding the aluminum tower
> failure.
> I am very interested because:
> a) I have a Heights Tower up some 30+ years without problems.
> b) I am in the midst of buying a new, beefier configuration.
> The questions are:
> 1) How old was the tower? Heights has changed the design in the last
> five
> years to something much better. The old design could easily be
> overloaded if
> you used the catalog 'specs' (Note: the tower spec world has changed
>
> dramatically in the last 10 years)
> 2) Can you tell me the sizes of the sections used for all levels?
> 3) Can you tell me the size and location of the section that failed?
>
> Please advise?
> thank you es 73s
> Bob, W5LT
___________________________________________________________________
Why pay more to get Web access?
Try Juno for FREE -- then it's just $9.95/month if you act NOW!
Get your free software today: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
|