Design Solution for 70’ Self-Support Tower on Mountain Top

FDH analyzed and reported on this self-support tower in October of 2012 and determined it did not conform to the jurisdictional requirements of the state. The site is located on a mountain, and the original design did not include ice; however, the new jurisdictional requirements required ice to be considered in the design. Because of this requirement, as well as the topographic factors needed, the entire site was overstressed in excess of 200%. The major challenge was that the compound on this mountain was so tight and used by so many carriers that the existing foundation could not be modified. The tower owner had previously investigated removing the tower and building a new tower in its place, and determined it was not a viable option for this site. Because of the location of the site and the limitation of the compound, FDH determined that the best solution would be to force the self-support tower to be more rigid using a monopole. The monopole was constructed in the center of the existing self-support tower, with a hard connection, allowing a load transfer to occur between the self-support tower and the monopole. The constructability of the modification was a major concern for this site, so effective communication with the construction department was key to ensuring the reliability of the design solution through to completion.

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