14.236.001 Panama City, FL Field Report - FSU Facilities · Panama City, Florida TCI Project ... Repair all broken rigid line spring hangers on the tower. ... Panama city, FL February

Field Observation Report February 11, 2014

Field Observation by: Y. Kabatski & J. Altmyer, P.E. Report by: Y. Kabatski

Checked by: J. Altmyer, P.E. Reviewed by: J. Lecordier, P.E.

Project No. 14.236.001

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND IS CONSIDERED AN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF TOWER CONSULTANTS, INC. THE INFORMATION IS DISCLOSED ON A CONFIDENTIAL BASIS AND IS NOT TO BE USED BY THE RECIPIENT FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE OTHER THAN INTENDED BY TOWER CONSULTANTS, INC. REPRODUCTION, TRANSMISSION, OR DISCLOSURE TO OTHERS, OR OTHER UNAUTHORIZED USE, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF TOWER CONSULTANTS, INC., IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

WFSU-TV

440-Foot Guyed Tower Panama City, Florida

Tower Consultants Incorporated www.tower-tci.com

West Coast Office 19711 64th Ave. West Suite A, Lynnwood, Washington 98036 Office (425) 778-5169 East Coast Office 15 Surrey Court, Columbia, South Carolina 29212 Office (803) 407-8489

February 11, 2014

WFSU-TV 1600 Red Barber Plaza Tallahassee, FL 32310-6068 Attention: Mr. Doug Crall

Re: Field Evaluation of Existing 440-Foot Guyed Tower Panama City, Florida TCI Project Number 14.236.001 Dear Mr. Crall,

We are pleased to submit our report on the field observation of the above referenced guyed tower.

The following steps should be taken to keep the tower in good condition and to provide a safe working environment.

1. Perform a plumb and tension on the tower as soon as possible.

2. Replace two bent diagonal members on the southeast face between the 8-ft and 16-ft levels with new same size diagonal members.

3. The guy wires for the top guy level are corroded and are likely more than 20 years old. Due to the age and condition of the guy wires, TCI recommends that top level guy wires be replaced to ensure the tower will perform its designed function.

4. Tighten the loose pal nut for the mid-bay horizontal member connection bolt on the west face near the 202-ft level.

5. Make a secure binding at the ends of all guy wires that are not taped or tied with seizing wire to prevent unraveling.

6. Reinstall all missing big grip end sleeves on the guy wires at the guy anchors.

7. All rusted cotter pins should be replaced with new stainless steel cotter pins.



8. Wire brush all rusted areas on the tower reinforcing connection plates and tower reinforcing hardware, electrical conduit and conduit hardware, antenna mounts and antenna mount hardware, safety cable hardware, grounding cable hardware and anchor steel to a bare metal surface and coat the exposed steel with a cold-galvanizing compound followed by a two-part epoxy mastic paint.

9. Repair or replace the kinked safety cable. Readjust the safety cable tension at the base of the tower.

10. Replace all missing climbing ladder connection J-bolts.

11. Replace a short connection bolt for the climbing ladder splice on the southeast face near the 15-ft level with new proper size connection bolt.

12. Repair or replace the damaged 6-ft yagi antenna on the east leg at the 178-ft level.

13. Tighten the loose connection bolt for the TV antenna mount on the east leg near the 415-ft level.

14. Repair all broken rigid line spring hangers on the tower. Replace one missing spring near the 205-ft level. Properly install two spring hangers near the 70-ft and 92-ft levels (link plate installation is recommended at those locations). Readjust the spring tensions on all rigid line spring hangers. Tighten all loose spring hanger connection bolts.

15. Properly secure all unconnected feed lines and electrical conduit to the tower and ice bridge members with appropriate hardware. All coaxial cables connected to the tower members by electrical wire should be properly secured by appropriate hardware.

16. Remove the abandoned antenna, line and rigid line mounts from the tower in order to reduce unnecessary wind loading.

17. The tower should be completely painted within the next two years in order to protect the exposed steel and comply with FAA requirements. We recommend Carbocrylic 3359 DTM or equivalent coating. Carbocrylic 3359 DTM is a self-priming, fall dry acrylic finish coat.

Should you have any questions or wish to discuss any aspect of this report, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.

Sincerely, Yevgeny Kabatski Tower Engineer Tower Consultants Incorporated

Field Observation of 440-Foot Guyed Tower 14.236.001 WFSU-TV, Panama city, FL February 11, 2014



1

Field Observation

AUTHORIZATION / PURPOSE

Tower Consultants Incorporated was retained by WFSU-TV to conduct a field observation of the 440-foot guyed tower. The purpose of the field observation was to visually determine the condition and structural integrity of the tower as well as to obtain information regarding the current tower geometry, antenna and line configurations.

The tower is located near Panama City, Florida. Jeff Altmyer, P.E. and Yevgeny Kabatski performed the site observation on January 22nd, 2014. The weather conditions were sunny with 3 - 6 mph winds and a temperature near 40 degrees.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS

The inspection consisted of a tower climb and visual examination of the tower members, connections, antennas, feed lines, mounting hardware and the leg splice connections.

The following items were noted during the tower structural elements observation:

There are two bent diagonal members on the southeast face between the 8-ft and 16-ft levels (Photo Nos. 27 and 28)

There is a loose pal nut for the mid-bay horizontal member connection bolt on the west face at the 202-ft level is loose (Photo No. 35)

The connection plates for the mid-bay horizontals are not galvanized and appear to be developing rust (Photo No. 30).

The guy wires and fittings appear to be secure; however, the following items were noted:

Signs of rust were observed on all guy wires for the top guy level (Photo Nos. 38 and 39)

All of the cotter pins for the guy wire connection from the tower end at the 60-ft and 440-ft levels are rusted (Photo Nos. 36 and 37)

Rust was observed on cotter pins, safety cable hardware, grounding cable hardware and anchor steel, typical for all anchors (Photo Nos. 68 - 71)

Some of the guy wire ends are not seized and some of them are missing the big grip end sleeves, typical for all anchors (Photo Nos. 72 and 73).

The exposed surface of the concrete foundation at the tower base is in good condition. The tower base and guy anchors are grounded with ground wires attached to the base that lead into the nearby soil (Photo Nos. 2, 14 and 15).

The paint is wearing away on the tower; however, there was no corrosion found on the tower members with the exception of the mid-bay horizontal connection plates that show sign of rust as mentioned above (Photo Nos. 29 and 30).

The guy tensions were measured and recorded using the tangent intercept method. The manufacturer specified tangent intercept information for the guy wires was not made available and could not be compared with the measured tangent intercepts. If that information cannot be provided, a guy tension chart can be created using the recommended guy tensions from the structural analysis that is currently being performed by TCI.




2

The tower was surveyed from three directions to determine twist and deflection. The tower’s verticality was measured in line with each guy anchor and we found that the tower’s verticality did not appear to be within the acceptable limits for a tower of that height. See Appendix A for details.

The following items were noted during the climbing ladder and safety cable observation:

The safety cable at the base of the tower is loose (Photo No. 31).

The safety cable at the top of the tower is kinked (Photo No. 32).

Some of the climbing ladder connection J-bolts are missing and the climbing ladder is loose at various levels throughout the tower height (Photo No. 33).

There is a short connection bolt for the climbing ladder splice on the southeast face near the 15-ft level (Photo No. 34).

All of the antenna mounts are properly connected to the tower members. The following items were noted during the antenna, transmission line and associated mounting hardware observation:

The 6-ft yagi antenna on the east leg at the 178-ft level is damaged and missing some of the elements. (Photo No. 16).

The TV antenna mount on the east leg near the 415-ft level has a loose bolt (Photo No. 51).

Rust was observed on the antenna mounts and antenna mount hardware at various levels (Photo Nos. 60 - 63).

Some of the flex lines on the southeast and west faces are loose and poorly connected to the tower at various levels. A few broken support hangers for the coax cables were observed on the tower during the climbing inspection (Photo Nos. 54, 55, 57 - 59).

There are four broken rigid line spring hanger gates on the tower near the 119-ft, 247-ft, 257-ft and 267-ft levels (Photo Nos. 44, 48 - 50). Two springs were not properly installed on the rigid line near the 70-ft and 92-ft levels (Photo Nos. 42 and 43). One spring is missing near the 205-ft level (Photo No. 46). Many loose spring hanger connection bolts were observed on the rigid line throughout the tower height (Photo Nos. 40, 41, 45 and 46). Also, the spring tension is not properly adjusted at most of the spring hanger locations (Photo No. 47).

The top mounted TV antenna is abandoned on the tower (Photo No. 24).

The 1/2” coax cable is cut and abandoned on the west face at the 355-ft level (Photo No. 56).

The abandoned L4”x4”x1/4” rigid line support angles are mounted on the northwest leg between the 10-ft and 440-ft levels spaced 10 feet apart (Photo No. 8).

Some of the coax cables connected to the tower members by electrical wires at various levels (Photo Nos. 52 and 53).




3

The electrical conduit that runs up the tower on the west face appears to be developing rust. The conduit connectors are also showing sign of rust at the obstruction light levels (Photo No. 65). The conduit is loose and poorly connected to the tower members between the 215-ft and 245-ft levels (Photo No. 66). The electrical conduit is not connected to the ice bridge members at the base of the tower (Photo No. 64).

The electrical flex cable is loose and not properly attached to the tower members at the 440-ft level (Photo No. 67).

Appendix A

Field Findings

DEFLECTION TABULATIONSOBSERVED DATA CALCULATED DEFLECTIONS

Tower Face Width (A, IN)= 60.5 ( - = Left, + = Right )Position Instrument to Leg Distance (FT)

On Tower Leg A Leg B Leg C Leg A Leg B Leg C

Leg 330 330 330 D1 D2 D3Average Horizontal Angle (DEC. DEG.) IN IN IN

Leg A Leg B Leg C

BASE 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 0.00 0.00

1ST GUY -0.0167 -0.0056 -0.0167 -1.15 -0.38 -1.15

2ND GUY -0.0056 -0.0333 -0.0278 -0.39 -2.30 -1.92

3RD GUY 0.0000 -0.0500 -0.0111 0.00 -3.46 -0.77

4TH GUY 0.0167 -0.0278 -0.0333 1.15 -1.92 -2.30

5TH GUY 0.0222 -0.0056 -0.0889 1.53 -0.39 -6.14

6TH GUY -0.0056 0.0056 -0.1056 -0.39 0.39 -7.30

TWIST AND OUT-OF-PLUMB DETERMINATIONCALCULATED CALCULATED

Position TWIST OUT-OF-PLUMBOn Tower

Leg d e a X Y R RincIN DEG IN IN IN IN

BASE 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -------1ST GUY -0.90 -0.03 -1.47 0.44 -0.26 0.51 0.51

2ND GUY -1.54 -0.04 -2.52 -0.22 1.15 1.17 1.56

3RD GUY -1.41 -0.04 -2.31 -1.55 1.41 2.10 1.36

4TH GUY -1.02 -0.03 -1.68 0.22 2.18 2.19 1.93

5TH GUY -1.67 -0.05 -2.73 3.32 3.20 4.61 3.27

6TH GUY -2.43 -0.07 -3.99 4.44 2.05 4.89 1.60

Allowable Deflection Between Guy Levels = 80 x .0025 = .2 ft = 2.4 in < 3.27 in NGAbsolute Allowable Twist = 5 degrees > 3.99 degrees OK

Sheet No. A-1Project No. 14.236.001

Date : 2/5/2014Scale: NoneFile:

TOWER VERTICAL ALIGNMENT

WFSU 440-ft GUYED TOWER

Panama City, FL 19711 64th Ave West, Suite A Lynnwood, WA 98036 425-778-5169 FAX 425-778-5103

Date: 1-22-14Weather Conditions: sunny, 5-mph winds, 40 degrees

I = Estimated Tangent Intercept (ft.)W = Total weight of guy, including insulators, etc. (lb)V = Vertical distance from guy attachment on tower to guy attachment at anchor (ft)H = Horizontal distance from guy attachment on tower to guy attachment at anchor (ft)C = Distance from guy attachment on tower to center of gravity of weight, W (ft); approx H/2

Ta = ((W*C*(H^2+(V-I)^2) .̂5))/(H*I)Ta = Guy Tension at anchorTd = Design Guy Tension

A - NorthwestB - EastC - Southwest

Less than 10% out of tolerance is acceptable

I W V H C1A 1/2" EHS 2.0 116.4 60 217 109 6536 40.0 Unknown --2AL 9/16" EHS 8.0 174.8 144 217 109 2797 40.0 Unknown --2AR 9/16" EHS 6.0 174.8 144 217 109 3745 40.0 Unknown --3A 3/4" EHS 8.0 356.9 220 217 109 6767 40.0 Unknown --4A 3/4" EHS 20.0 512.6 300 327 164 5516 40.0 Unknown --5A 7/8" EHS 24.0 792.6 380 327 164 7982 40.0 Unknown --6A 3/4" EHS 28.0 632.3 439 327 164 5930 40.0 Unknown --

Sheet No.

Project No.

Date :

Scale:

File:

2/5/14None 19711 64th Ave. W, Suite A

Lynnwood, WA 98036425-778-5169 FAX 425-778-5103

GUY WIRE

GUY SIZE

% out of tolerance

GUY LINE INITIAL TENSION

A-214.236.001

WFSU 440-ft GUYED TOWER

Panama City, FL

DETERMINED BY THE TANGENT INTERCEPT METHOD

Ta (lbs)

Strand Temp (F)

Td (lbs)

H

V

I

LINE

OF

SIGH

T

GUY WIRE

Appendix B Photographs

Field Observation of 440-Foot Guyed Tower 14.236.001 WFSU-TV, Panama City, FL February 7, 2014

B-1 Tower Consultants Incorporated www.tower-tci.com

West Coast Office 19711 64th Ave. West Suite A, Lynnwood, WA 98036 Office (425) 778-5169 East Coast Office 15 Surrey Court, Columbia, SC 29212 Office (803) 407-8489

Photo No. 1

Photo No. 1 is an overall view of the 440-ft guyed tower.




Photo No. 2

Photo No. 2 is a view of the tower base.




Photo No. 3 is a view up the west face of the tower. Photo No. 4 is a view up the northeast face of the tower. Photo No. 5 is a view up the southeast face of the tower.

Photo No. 5Photo No. 4Photo No. 3




Photo Nos. 6 and 7 show the feed line transition from the tower to the building.

Photo No. 7

Photo No. 6




Photo No. 8 is a view looking up the inside of the tower. Photo No. 9 is a view of the typical diagonal connection to the tower leg.

Photo No. 8

Photo No. 9




Photo No. 10

Photo No. 11

Photo No. 10 is a view of a typical leg splice connection on the tower. Photo No. 11 shows the typical guy connections at the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th guy levels.




Photo No. 13

Photo No. 12

Photo No. 12 shows the guy connections at the 6th guy level. Photo No. 13 shows the torque arm at the 2nd guy level.




Photo No. 14

Photo No. 14 shows a typical inner guy anchor. Photo No. 15 shows a typical outer guy anchor.

Photo No. 15




Photo No. 16

Photo No. 17

Photo No. 16 is a view of the 6-ft yagi on the east leg at the 178-ft level. Note that the yagi antenna at this location is damaged and missing some of the elements. Photo No. 17 shows two 5-ft yagi antennas on the east leg between the 205-ft and 212-ft levels.




Photo No. 19

Photo No. 18

Photo No. 18 is a view of the 8-ft dish on the east leg at the 252-ft level.




Photo No. 20

Photo No. 19 shows the 15-ft omni on the east leg between the 263-ft and 278-ft levels. Photo No. 20 shows the 8-bay yagi complex antenna on the east leg at the 284-ft level.

Photo No. 19




Photo No. 21

Photo No. 21 is a view of the 8-foot dish on the east leg at the 293-ft level.




Photo No. 22

Photo No. 23

Photo No. 22 is a view of the 12-bay FM antenna on the southwest leg between the 300-ft and 414-ft levels. Photo No. 23 is a view of the side-mounted TV antenna on the east leg between the 385-ft and 431-ft levels.




Photo No. 24

Photo No. 24 is a view of the abandoned top mounted TV antenna. Photo No. 25 shows the beacon on southwest leg at the 245-ft level. Photo No. 26 shows a typical obstruction light on the tower.

Photo No. 26

Photo No. 25




Photo No. 28

Photo Nos. 27 and 28 show two bent diagonal members on the southeast face between the 8-ft and 16-ft levels.

Photo No. 27




Photo No. 29 shows a poor paint condition of the tower members, typical. Photo No. 30 is a view of a typical mid-bay horizontal connection plate at the reinforced sections. Note that the welded connection plates are not galvanized and appear to be developing rust.

Photo No. 29

Photo No. 30




Photo No. 31 shows the loose safety cable at the base of the tower. Photo No. 32 is a view of the safety cable at the top of the tower. Note that the wire is kinked.

Photo No. 31

Photo No. 32




Photo No. 33 is a view of the climb ladder connection to tower. Note that some of the J-bolts are missing and the climb ladder is loose at various levels throughout the tower height. Photo No. 34 shows a short connection bolt for the climb ladder splice on the southeast face near the 15-ft level. Photo No. 35 shows a loose pal nut for the mid-bay horizontal member bolt on the west face at the 202-ft level.

Photo No. 33

Photo No. 34 Photo No. 35




Photo No. 36 shows the rusted cotter pin at the 60-ft level, typical for all three legs. Photo No. 37 shows the rusted cotter pin at the 440-ft level, typical for all three legs. Photo Nos. 38 and 39 show rust on the guy wires at the top guy level.

Photo No. 36


Photo No. 37




Photo No.40 shows a loose gate bolt for the rigid line near the 15-ft level. Photo No.41 shows a loose gate bolt for the rigid line near the 60-ft level. Note that there are many loose rigid line gate bots on the tower throughout the tower height. Photo Nos. 42 and 43 show the rigid line spring hangers on the tower near the 70-ft and 92-ft levels. Note that the spring hangers are not properly installed at those locations.

Photo No. 40


Photo No. 41




Photo No. 44 shows a missing rigid line gate bolt near the 119-ft level. Photo No. 45 shows two loose gate bolts for the rigid line near the 128-ft level. Photo No. 46 shows the spring hanger with a missing spring on the tower near the 205-ft level. Note that two connection bolts are loose at this location. Photo No. 47 shows the rigid line spring hanger near the 226-ft level. Note that there are many spring hangers on the tower with improperly adjusted spring tension.






Photo Nos. 48 - 50 show the broken spring hanger gates for the rigid line near the 247-ft, 257-ft and 267-ft levels. Photo No. 51 shows the loose bolt for the TV antenna mount on the east leg near the 415-ft level.

+

Photo No. 48

Photo No. 50

Photo No. 49

Photo No. 51




Photo Nos. 52 and 53 show the coax cables connected to the tower members by electrical wires at various levels. Photo Nos. 54 and 55 show the broken coax cable support hangers on the tower at various levels.

Photo No. 52

Photo No. 54

Photo No. 53

Photo No. 55




Photo No. 56 shows the cut and abandoned 1/2” cable on the west face near the 355-ft level. Photo No. 57 shows the loose 1/4” cable on the southeast face near the 178-ft level. Photo No. 58 shows the loose 1/2” cable on the east leg near the 70-ft level. Photo No. 59 shows the loose 1/4” cable on the west face near the 110-ft level.

Photo No. 56

Photo No. 58

Photo No. 57

Photo No. 59




Photo Nos. 60 - 63 show rust on the antenna mount and antenna mount hardware at various levels.

Photo No. 60

Photo No. 62

Photo No. 61

Photo No. 63




Photo No. 64 shows the electrical conduit on the ice bridge. Note that the conduit is not properly connected to the ice bridge members. Photo No. 65 shows the condition of the conduit connectors at the obstruction light levels.

Photo No. 64

Photo No. 65




Photo No. 66 shows the electrical conduit on the west face between the 215-ft and 245-ft levels. Note that the conduit is loose and not connected to tower members at this location. Photo No. 67 shows the loose electrical flex cable at the top of the tower.

Photo No. 66

Photo No. 67




Photo Nos. 68 – 71 show rust on cotter pins, safety cable hardware, grounding cable hardware and anchor steel, typical for all anchors.






Photo Nos. 72 and 73 show the guy wire condition at the anchors. Note that some of the guy wire ends are not seized and some of them are missing the big grip end sleeves, typical for all anchors.

Photo No. 72

Photo No. 73

Appendix C Tower and Site

Information

EXISTING APPURTENANCES ELEVATION LOCATION FEEDLINE #

BEACON AND LIGHTNING RODS 481.4' CENTER 1-1/16" O.D. CONDUIT 1

DIELECTRIC TFU-33JN TV ANTENNA (ABANDONED) 440' - 481.4' CENTER N/A

DIELECTRIC TLP-24A TV ANTENNA 385' - 431' E LEG 3" RIGID 2

(3) OBSTRUCTION LIGHTS 370' ALL LEGS 1-1/16" O.D. CONDUIT 1

SHIVELY 12-BAY FM ANTENNA 300' - 414' SW LEG 3" COAX 3

PL8-65-P7A 8-FT STD DISH 293' E LEG EW63 4

8-BAY YAGI ANTENNA COMPLEX 281' - 285' E LEG 1/2" COAX 5

15' OMNI ANTENNA 263' - 278' E LEG 7/8" COAX 6

PL8-65-P7A 8-FT STD DISH 252' E LEG EW63 7

BEACON 245' SW LEG 1-1/16" O.D. CONDUIT 1

2-BAY YAGI ANTENNA COMPLEX 205' - 212' E LEG 1/2" COAX 8

6' YAGI 178' E LEG 1/4" COAX 9

(3) OBSTRUCTION LIGHTS 118' ALL LEGS 1-1/16" O.D. CONDUIT 1

Documents

14.236.001 Panama City, FL Field Report - FSU Facilities · Panama City, Florida TCI Project ... Repair all broken rigid line spring hangers on the tower. ... Panama city, FL February