Heavy duty self standing tower

[Nicolas Fournier]

Hi there

Here is something i can share with you. Feel free to comment or ask question.
We, the shop i work for, just installed this site during last december, near the Lat 48.40.00 deg North. Was a bit cold on tower the moring the mercury shown -29celcius to this, add the wind :sick:

So lets go for stats, There are 4 anchor rods 1in dia, 11feet long at the tree legs, set on mountain top hard rock. The tower is 12 feet wide at bottom, the first section weight 1400lbs with the ladder (weight less than 100lbs) Tower is 90 feet tall going taper until it reach 70ft.

Tower was chosen to stand any wheater that may happen, the worst being frost rain on the beggening of winter and when the hot spot move, to stand in the turbulent wind, tower may bear 5x his weight. I have seen 1/2 brace 3 inches diameter because of this.
If i remember well, tower cost near 25 000 and it cost 50 000 at four guy (tree rigger) to assemble and install it with crazy wheater on the verry wildness; there is no road so we needed the ground to be frosen for the crane truck to come nearby. This took one week to set everything up: tower on site, mount antennas, install battery, controler, and link radio equipement to get 50mbps backbone where the closest internet distributor is 300km away.

The tower only hold two 6 feet antenna, here radome aren't installed yet (this reduce wind load) The antenna is standing on the first section.
http://usera.ImageCave.com/Smoked/towers/dwarf_antenna.jpg



Here you can have a great look at my butt :cool: if i remember it may be the fifth section
http://usera.ImageCave.com/Smoked/towers/3Gars_tower.JPG


Here, we have done it !! last section bolted !
http://usera.ImageCave.com/Smoked/towers/Bolting_top.jpg

This is what its looking like when you come near
http://usera.ImageCave.com/Smoked/towers/Term_dusk.JPG

Stabilizer arms are hanging on picture but are now bolted on the other tower leg. They are intended to cancel the twist the antenna can exert on the tower leg witch is an angled iron 3in. It also prevent the antenna to turn from its aiming during windstorm.

I'm a bit sick that the client hasen't considered to put a windmill on the top because that mill require maintenance versus solar pannels

[Rob Beckers]

Great job you got Nicolas!
Can't beat those views, even if it's a bit chilly....

Have you done any wind turbine tower installs?

-RoB-

[Nicolas Fournier]

here in quebec the grid power is cheaper than anywhere in america even tought it has raised tree time in two years, so there are no need for windturbine yet. Folks are starting to talk about the energy price raising, but they will talk a lot before somebody do something concrete here. Quebecers are known as sheeps ...

The only wind thing ive seen so far (exept the guyed tower for validating canadian windatlast erected by Corps for their comming big mills) is a small tower with an array of 5 AirX ....

In my case i have a strong 40' tower in hand and im building my 10footer on piggot/otherpower desing. I also got an old battery bank consisting of 6 2v cells weighting near 250lbs each cell. I've got told that they are Holdam, Oldam i dont know the spelling and the spec right.... info on this brand/kind are welcome They are about 20years old, and there is half a inche of stuff / sulfate on the bottom of the cells. I'll get some pictures, it will be easyer.