The largest Phillystran tower guy systems ever assembled are now serving the steel spire atop the New York City skyline.
The manufacturer said it designed, made and supplied eight aramid fiber High-Performance Tower Guy assemblies, each approximately 100 feet in length, to support the 400-foot mast atop One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. That building has been topped off but is not yet open.
“These custom HPTG assemblies were designed to hold up in the most extreme weather conditions with a rated break strength over 1.7 million pounds,” the company said.
Phillystran began working on the job in 2004 with a proposal for custom non-metallic guy assemblies to support the mast. It won the contract in September of last year.
“Construction of the eight HPTG guy assemblies … began in the fall of 2012 and was recently completed in August 2013, taking nearly 48 weeks to complete,” the company stated.
“This project was a challenge for Phillystran, requiring a specially designed tension monitoring system, and approximately 6-inch-diameter HPTG guy assemblies weighing in at nearly 12 pounds per foot, with a breaking strength of over 1.7 million pounds.” Phillystran said its engineers and consultants monitored the installation of the assemblies from mid-July into early August.
The building is a joint project of The Durst Organization and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Durst hopes to attract broadcast stations to lease space for transmitters atop the building. If it succeeds, it plans to install master TV and FM antennas on the spire.
