Engineer Training Series – Towers & Foundation Mods

Part 4 - Design Practices by Others presented from a Construction perspective on

Tower & Foundation Modifications

Reinforcement Project Examples:

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Monopole - Self Supporter - Guyed Tower

Fred Teichman 04/2014

Part 4 – Mods/Reinforcements with Project Examples

In This module we cover typical reinforcement projects for each of the three
structure types:

A. Monopole Tower
B. Self Supporting Tower (SST)
C. Guyed Tower

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
You will see both “Bolt on” applications as well as “Weld on” applications . Each of
the slides that reference a Customer and Site Name indicates that the original
modification drawings has been provided for additional review

First we cover Standard issued equipment

& Safety
80% of the photos used in this material are from actual projects and referenced by customer & site.
Project drawings and costs information is available upon request. FredTeichmanHTH@gmail.com
The Key = Planning, Safety, & Communications

All crews are

equipped with
Radios, First Aid,
Fall Protection
and Fire Safety
equipment .

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Portable Water Tank

Fire Extinguishers, Water &

Welding Blankets for all
welding and drilling projects
Many Projects require special equipment

Welding blankets
for all welding jobs
to protect existing
coax and cables

Fire extinguishers

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
are required on all
welding and drilling
projects.

Water
refill
used
during
warm
months

CCI – Marshalltown IA
 Complex Projects Require more – Leg Mod “Welding”

A Climbers job is to
2 Spider baskets
also be the extra set of
equipped with:
eyes for any signs of
fire hazards
Climbers,
Welders, Needs options (3)

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
and
Miller SuitCase
mig welder.

Extra hands are

needed to assist in
steel positioning,
prepping and
protection of existing
equipment

CCI – Crawfordsville IN
Question(s) - Towers Mods

Why is the Tower being modified ?

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
What’s on the tower now ?

Fred Teichman 04/2014

 Question – How... To add reinforcement

Look up ...

Take a look at the

tower leg in the
center of this picture

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Do you see a clear
path ?

How easy do you

think it would be
to install
continuous plate,
½ pipe or angle ?
 Be Aware of Existing Equipment and ...
90% of the towers you see today have one primary purpose – to securely position
an antenna at a certain height . 95% of the total mounts used to hold those
antennas in place are secured to the tower leg.

The #1 problem when

tower reinforcement

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
projects require the legs
to be strengthened... is
getting around, under, or
thru the existing mounts.

Often existing equipment

is not considered in the
modification design.

Simple point – every

structure being modified has
equipment on it.
Part 4 – Monopole Mods (Reinforcements)

Monopole Mods

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
80% of the photos used in this material are from actual projects and referenced by customer & site.
Project drawings and costs information is available upon request. FredTeichmanHTH@gmail.com
 Monopole Reinforcement Areas on the structure

Reasons to modify or reinforce a

monopole structure:

A. Adding a Carrier
B. Existing Carrier is adding or
changing equipment

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Areas of a monopole that
commonly require
reinforcement :

A. Base Flange
B. Shaft (s)
C. Entry /Exit ports (new)
D. Splice flanges
E. Foundations
Part 4 – Monopole Mods (Reinforcements)

Monopole Mods

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Examples

80% of the photos used in this material are from actual projects and referenced by customer & site.
Project drawings and costs information is available upon request. FredTeichmanHTH@gmail.com
Monopole Reinforcement Projects

Customer & Projects Names:

(1) Crown Castle International (CCI) – Westerville OH

(2) CCI- Plush Horse, Huntsville AL

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
(3) CCI /Aero – Sweet MI
(4) CCI /Aero – Cedar Road MI
(5) CCI /Aero - Westerville IN
(6) ATC – Bristol IL
(7) ATC – Sugar Creek OH

Drawings Provided
 Base Plate Reinforcement –Gussets Step 1

Layout project, protect bolts and

remove existing galvanizing

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Remove all debris and clean inside of pole
of any material that could start a fire

CCI – Westerville OH
Base Plate Reinforcement –Gussets Step 2
Key point – Crew on site is always watching for
any signs of fire from both grinding and welding

Per the design, the material layout

and welding is underway

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
CCI – Westerville OH
 Base Plate Reinforcement –Gussets Step 3

ZRC coating on all new steel, welds

and existing surfaces effected by
welding

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Inside Pole

Once the welding is complete – Field applied

Cold galvanizing by “ ZRC “ is used to re-coat
the factory applied galvanizing

CCI – Westerville OH
 Monopole baseplate/Foundation mod
Weld on new DYWIDAG bracket and core drill

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Core drill 11’ 6” into existing
foundation

CCI Plush Horse – Huntsville AL

 Monopole baseplate/Foundation mod
Before

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Note – the complete
project area has been
recoated with gold
galvanizing (ZRC) to
protect existing surface

Most of the projects

require grouting of the
base plate After

CCI Plush Horse – Huntsville AL

Monopole Reinforcement – Core drilling Base Plate

During
project.

DYWIDAG
rods drilled
before

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
welding
bracket

Core Drilling
track for long
depth
After

CCI/Aero
Sweet MI
 Before - Monopole Shaft/baseplate/Foundation Mod

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Typical existing site conditions
include multiple cable bridge posts
and other obstacles
Existing base plate and shaft
prior to project start

CCI /Aero – Cedar Road MI

 During - Monopole Baseplate Mod
Extensive welding to lower portion of shaft for Base plate reinforcement thru foundation

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Temperature gauge used
to confirm metal is
Confirming weld size heated prior to welding

CCI /Aero – Cedar Road MI

 After - Monopole baseplate/Foundation mod

Shaft reinforcement

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Gusset

Dywidag Rod
Baseplate extension

CCI /Aero – Cedar Road MI

 Testing the Installation – DYWIDAG

Pull testing is performed after installation of DYWIGDAG rods and the epoxy has cured.
Hydraulic jacks are used to provide sufficient lifting pressure during test.

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Typical method to determine if specified epoxy is
working
Base Plate Solution ?

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Learn more at: www.structuralcomponents.net
 Monopole Shaft reinforcement
Concern: A lot of
Aero drilling resulting
Solutions in disturbing the
MP3 design galvanized coating
in multiple areas.

Many areas not

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
easy to inspect.
Inside and behind

Crown /Aero - Westerville IN

 Monopole Shaft reinforcement – Special Equipment

Moving from
one flat to
another
Mag Drills & Spiders

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
baskets

CCI /Aero – Cedar Road MI

 Monopole Mod - Shaft Reinforcement

Shaft reinforcement
From view upstairs

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Shaft Reinforcement
MP3 designed provided
by Aero Solutions

Installing Ajax bolts

CCI /Aero – Cedar Road MI

Monopole Shaft reinforcement – Ajax Bolt
Installation on channels around the pole require
special equipment so access to drilling and bolting is
possible

AJAX Bolts

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Standard installation tool and sample bolts

Blind bolt connection for steel – the washer is split and folds in half prior to inserting
Monopole Base plate & Shaft reinforcement

Most Non weld pole mods require

some welding ... And in some cases a lot

Welds have been highlighted in yellow

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Gusset plates 3’ – 6’ in length

CCI/Aero – Westville IN
 Monopole Exit and Entry Ports
Ports are
installed by
grinding the
opening,
inserting the
port and
welding it in

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
place

Increased concerns are Exit port is upstairs

addressed to prevent
fire hazards during all
grinding and welding
activity due to existing
coax inside monopole
structure
Entry port is downstairs

ATC – Bristol IL
 Extreme/Odd Mods – How to repair a dent
Pole was dented 131’ in the air by others ... How ?
Not sure but we fixed it

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Dent
(Existing Damage)

ATC – Sugar Creek OH

 Extreme/Odd Mods – Dent has been corrected
Before
Area was prepped by removing galvanizing and
existing step bolts . Split sleeve was installed
(welded) and step bolts re-welded in place.
Complete area was primed and painted.

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
During After
ATC – Sugar Creek OH
Part 4 – SST Mods (Reinforcements)

Self Supporting
Mods

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Simple & Complex

80% of the photos used in this material are from actual projects and referenced by customer & site.
Project drawings and costs information is available upon request. FredTeichmanHTH@gmail.com
SST Reinforcement Areas on the structure

Basic areas to Reinforce

• Leg
• Horizontal members
• Diagonal members
• Flanges
• Base Plate

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
• Foundations
Part 4 – SST Mods (Reinforcements)

Self Supporting Tower

Mods Examples

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
80% of the photos used in this material are from actual projects and referenced by customer & site.
Project drawings and costs information is available upon request. FredTeichmanHTH@gmail.com
SST Reinforcement Projects

Customer & Projects Names:

(1) Crown Castle International (CCI) – Howard Lake MN

(2) CCI – Lafayette IN

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
(3) ATC – Florence OH
(4) MNDOT – Wykoff MN
(5) CCI – Lake Zurich IL

Drawings Provided
 SST Reinforcements - Horizontal Bolt on Mod

Bolt on
Horizontal
attachments

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
This project was
challenged with
having cable
ladders on each
of the 3 faces.

CCI – Howard
Lake MN
 SST Horizontal Bolt on Mod

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Standard bolt on leg
application

Horizontal connected to existing stitch plate

Unfortunately the J bolt hardware length was incorrect for
CCI – Howard Lake MN the 3 existing cable ladders.
 SST Leg Reinforcement

Bolt on PiRod leg

reinforcement – Yes
that is a lot of
hardware and tough
on your cloths !

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
CCI – Lafayette IN
 SST Leg & Flange Reinforcement + Extension
Angle welded to solid round leg needs to be continuous
up the leg... Oops – M/W mount in the way

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Note – design drawings not available

Weld on Bridge stiffener

transitions around the existing
PiRod flange
CCI – Lafayette IN
 SST Tower Extension
Top of tower before

Removing beacon plate and prepping

welding points

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Dual beacon
light temp
installed off to
the side but
remains
functional
Installing extensions on existing structures used
to be common, but as the network continues to
develop they are less and less.
CCI – Lafayette IN
 SST Tower Extension

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Weld per design
and installation
specifications

Manufacture provided template painted and welded in place on existing tower section

CCI – Lafayette IN
 SST Tower Extension
Installing new solid leg tower extension

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Installing the 10’ extension on existing tower
CCI – Lafayette IN
 SST Angle Leg Reinforcement

Angle Leg
Reinforcement
with tabbed
solid rod
attachments

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
ATC - Sky Climber like a
Florence Spider basket
OH
 SST Angle Leg Reinforcement & Diagonal Bracing

Interior wind lacing

(bracing) required field
modifications due to
material shipped. Angle
was coped, bent, drilled,
coated and then installed

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
ATC - Florence OH
 Extreme/Odd Mods – 4 leg SST

C channel screw
mounted to top and
bottom side of back
to back angles

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
CCI – Lake Zurich IL
Extreme/Odd Mods – Diagonal and Horizontal

C channel screwed - (yes screwed) ...
to the existing back to back angle
www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Raw Galvanized material on site
provided in stock lengths.
Cut and drilled on site

CCI – Lake Zurich IL

 Extreme/Odd Mods – Diagonal and Horizontal

Man lift used for

interior lacing
due to span and
access. Spider
baskets in upper
portion of the

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
tower
Triangle bracing

Difficult access and nasty

painting

CCI – Lake Zurich IL

Part 4 – Guyed Tower Mods (Reinforcements)

Guyed Tower
Mods

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
80% of the photos used in this material are from actual projects and referenced by customer & site.
Project drawings and costs information is available upon request. FredTeichmanHTH@gmail.com
 Guyed Tower - Reinforcement Areas

A. Modifications to the Sections

Members & Flanges

Diagonals
B. Modifications to Legs
the Foundations Horizontals

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
ATC Patent # US8250817
Inverted U Anchor reinforcement
Guyed Tower - Reinforcement Areas

C. Simply Adding additional Guyed points

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Part 4 – Guyed Towers (Reinforcements)

Guyed Tower
Reinforcement

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Examples
80% of the photos used in this material are from actual projects and referenced by customer & site.
Project drawings and costs information is available upon request. FredTeichmanHTH@gmail.com
Guyed Tower Reinforcement Projects

Customer & Projects Names:

1. BCI/Structural Components – Lincoln NE

2. CCI – Crawfordsville IN

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
3. CCI – Lafayette IN
4. CCI – Marshalltown IA

Drawings Provided
 Guyed Tower – Leg Reinforcement Pipe on Angle

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
All bolted angle leg reinforcement using galv pipe
designed by BCI (now known as Structural
Components

BCI/Structural Components – Lincoln NE Transition around guy pull-off

 Guyed Tower – Leg Reinforcement details

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
L brackets u-bolted
and bolted directly to
Needs options (2) the vertical pipe
Pipe to pipe extension sleeve

BCI/Structural Components – Lincoln NE

 Guyed Tower Leg Reinforcement – Angle on Pipe

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
All Weld application
with angle on pipe to
reinforce the tower
leg.
Crew using Spider
basket for welding
and extra climber is
keeping an eye for fire
hazards.
CCI – Crawfordsville IN
 Guyed Tower Leg and Flange Reinforcement

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Stiffeners
on each
side of the
angle

Transition stiffeners used to carry the load around the towers

existing flange
CCI – Crawfordsville IN
 Guyed Tower Flange Reinforcement ... Mounts ?
View of
completed
transition
stiffeners
prior to FAA
painting

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Question ?
The same
approach is
used for
going
around
existing
CCI – Crawfordsville IN mounts
CCI – Lafayette IN
Towers with lots of Mounts require ... Bridge Stiffeners

Transition Stiffeners, Bridge Stiffeners, same idea ... Just

much larger do to the area or space being skipped

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
So a tower with a lot of
mounts will require a
lot stiffeners

Project material
prepared by removing
the galvanizing prior
to welding
CCI – Marshalltown IA
Tower Leg Reinforcement around existing mounts – Detail

Round leg tower with angle

reinforcement requires continuous
lengths of certain areas on the tower.
Antenna mounts are always bolted to
the legs of the tower. Here is one way to
transition or “Bridge” the existing
mount

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
CCI – Marshalltown IA
Welding projects – Bridge Stiffener

Yes –
sometimes it
seams
impossible to
see how
everything

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
will fit.

CCI – Marshalltown IA
Welding projects – Bridge Stiffener

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Great weld
looking even
better when
Size needed per engineer finished with
to transfer the load galv and FAA
around the existing paint
mounts

CCI – Marshalltown IA
Guyed Tower Foundations - Guyed Anchors

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Walls collapse causing over excavation

Typical straight forward dead-

man anchor install turns into
engineered changes due to
poor soil conditions

Crown Castle – Marshalltown IA

 Guyed Tower Foundations - Guyed Anchors

The soil
conditions
varied from
one new
install anchor
point to

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
another

Installing steel
casing to form
the concrete
block as per
the design
Existing
guy
Anchor

CCI – Marshalltown IA
 Guyed Tower Foundation - Guy Anchor
Poor soil conditions (walls collapsed) - required engineered steel casing &
oversizing of anchor block

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Over excavation , steel framing, increased rebar and
oversized block.
Change Orders (costs)
available for review
CCI – Marshalltown IA
Guyed Tower – Adding Guy Wire

Adding and changing out guy

wires require special equipment
to pull and release tension during
the process

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Cable Grip

Come-Along
 Guyed Tower – Reinforcement – Guy Change-out
Top View of Guy pull-off (existing
Truck for guy replacement)

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Preform

Bailing wire

Thimble

CCI – Marshalltown IA
 Guyed Tower Foundation – Center Pier

Before

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Just the beginning

Needs details and info

Helical Screw Anchors project!

CCI – Marshalltown IA
 Guyed Tower Foundation – Center Pier
First the area is cleared around the base of
the tower. Then the anchors are installed
using special attachments

Special note: Site remains live and existing coax

equipment is protected and watched during all

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
activity

Skid steer using hydraulic attachment

CCI – Marshalltown IA
 Guyed Tower Center Pier – Mod with Screw Anchors

Once the helical anchors are all installed,

the remaining excavation begins to
expose the existing foundation and to
prep surface to dowel in the rebar

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Drilled into
existing pier,
the rebar is
secured with
epoxy

CCI – Marshalltown IA
 Guyed Tower - Center Pier Reinforcement

Extensive work required to tie in new

Needs detail rebar to existing foundation pier and to
newly installed helical screw anchors

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
CCI – Marshalltown IA
 Guyed Tower - Center Pier Reinforcement

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Need details

Foundation mod for center pier completed and

Concrete is poured and finished
includes capping off screw anchors and
installing required cable support structures
CCI – Marshalltown IA
Towers & Foundation Reinforcement – Summary

• Safety
• Special Equipment
• Bolt on – Weld on

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
• Inspections & Certifications
• Remember the existing Equipment
• Library of Mod drawings by others

Next 3 slides cover basic Safety guidelines issued by Crown Castle International on
all mod projects

Fred Teichman 04/2014

 CCI - Safety Guidelines
The Following Safety Guidelines are For Installation Contractors Performing Structural
Modifications on Towers Where Cutting and Welding of Steel is Required; Such as
Cutting New Portholes in Monopoles and Reinforcing Structural Tower Members and
Sections. Refer to CCUSA Cutting, Welding, and Safety Policy.

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
CCI Welding - Safety Guidelines

Sample Guidelines provided by Crown Castle (CCUSA)

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
CCI Cutting - Safety Guidelines

Sample Guidelines provided by Crown Castle (CCUSA)

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
Specialized Suppliers & Resources – Mods

ep-ind.com
zrcworldwide.com

structuralcomponents.net

commstructures.com aerosolutionsllc.com

www. f u l l e r t o n e n g i n e e r i n g . co m
dywidag-systems.com

sabretowersandpoles.com/Tower-Modifications

valmont.com/valmont-structures/products/wireless-communication

wirelesscomponents.com
Specialty Manufacturing LLC
abchance.com
vikinghelicalanchors.com Fred Teichman
linkedin.com/in/fredteichman