Top tower maintenance tips

Jan 1, 2006 1:00 PM, By James Ruedlinger

James Ruedlinger, a staff engineer in ERI’s Structural Division, shares his observations of the top ten maintenance problems he encounters when working on towers.

The vertical challenge

As broadcasters rush to prepare for adoption of the new standard, the time is ripe to step back to consider the state of the radio tower industry and the effect Revision G will have on it….

1. Guy tensions and/or tower alignment/plumb not within EIA specifications

2. Damaged structural inner members (normally due to the attachment of rigging equipment used for stacking the tower and installing antennas)

3. Corrosion of structural members (particularly pipe members)

4. Loose/missing connection bolts

5. Undersized guy attachment hardware (i.e. turnbuckles, shackles, etc…)

6. Insufficient/broken grounding systems

7. Transmission lines improperly attached to the structure

8. Unused/dead equipment still attached to structure (i.e. antennas, mounts, and transmission lines)

9. Overgrown foliage around guy anchor points

10. Faded tower paint