Please do not think that I am trying to be a "know-it-all" about tower
installations, but my employers have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars
to train me to recognize dangerous situations involving rigging, taking
shortcuts to "get the job done" or save money, and to be alert to things that
have the potential to cause harm to life, limb, and property. I offer my
thoughts purely in the sense that I may not have the answer, but I can see
what's wrong and hopefully prevent someone else from making similar mistakes.
My "Spidey sense" is now through the roof after seeing that website.
> This installation demonstrates using a existing tower as one of the guy
> anchors and guying part way up the existing tower. Not a good idea.
It demonstrates a PLETHORA of bad ideas!!!!!!! Damn, if I had been part of
that "crew", I would have left as soon as I realized how badly things were
being handled.
When those towers fail (Tornado Alley, you know), there's no way in hell I
would EVER want my name to be associated with that installation. If anyone is
injured or killed, every single person responsible for the installation will
be named in the lawsuit. Sure, as a "gopher", you may not end up being
finanically responsible for any of the damage, but you will sure as hell be
named in the lawsuit and will sure as hell have to hire an attorney to fix it
for you.
Here are the mistakes as I see them:
1. Guying to another tower. (BIGGIE)
2. Using a "Pelvis Breaker" climbing belt as fall protection.
3. Using "climbing gear" as fall protection (nit picky, yes, but still
inappropriate. Much better than the "Kill You" belt above, though.)
4. Using static, non-shock arresting, non-decellerating lanyards as fall
protection. (Life or death mistake.)
5. Using "TLAR" as a design guide since I didn't see any mention of tension
measuring devices for the guys. ("That Looks About Right" KILLS PEOPLE.)
6. While I can't confirm this, it's safe to assume that the guy hardware
(cable, turnbuckles, shackles, etc.) is probably cheap stuff from the hardware
store instead of load rated, American (therefore, if it fails, traceable back
to the ore mine) hardware like from The Crosby Group. Why do I assume this? He
chose to "save money" rather than "do it right", so I can't imagine that he
didn't pinch pennies here.
7. THE WORST MISTAKE OF THE ENTIRE INSTALLATION:
"The good news is, the base IS setting flat when the tower is vertical (phew).
You can see how I have approached the mounting - the towers set on a single
bolt"
and
"If you take a look at the bases, rather than spend $125 each plus shipping on
two flat bases from Rohn, I had my excellent local welder Robert weld 3/8"
flat plates to the bottoms of two tower sections, drill holes in the centers,
and strengthen the joint with stout webbing. This saved about $200."
Here's the problem: N5OT is not a structural engineer. He CANNOT MAKE THAT
DECISION.
He is not what OSHA would define as a "competent person" in that area, (one who
could make the decision about whether or not the homemade base plates were
structurally sound). (Does OSHA apply here? No. Do the same standards exist in
civil law? Yes.)
For example, I am a "competent person" to inspect my fall protection harness on
a daily basis for wear and tear. However, I am NOT a "competent person" in
regards to the required ANNUAL inspection of the harness because I have not
received (nor do I want) that specific training.
N5OT admitted on his webpage that he used homemade equipment to save money.
Do you know what kind of field day the lawyers would have with that?
Anyone who makes that kind of decision, good intentioned or not, is deciding to
bypass all of the engineering specs of the manufacturer and certified
engineers. That's a get out of jail free card to Rohn for any failure and a
quite possibly get INTO jail card for him.
So, say goodbye to everything that you own that isn't homesteaded, anything
more than one car, and half of all of your future earnings. That's IF you are
lucky enough to still be a free man because you were not found CRIMINALLY
NEGLIGENT.
Of course, so is using another tower as a guy point.
Even worse is knowing that your entire life is in ruins and someone else's life
is altered or ENDED because YOU wanted to save a couple hundred bucks. Try
sleeping at night after that.
God forbid anything should happen like that, but it CAN and DOES happen. If
someone is injured, the fallout is not pretty. God bless Mark for working with
kids and all, but that won't help him in court.
Jason
KC0ERG
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