North Dakota tower

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:35:57 -0500, Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com> said:

> I wonder - and should remember to ask some of the tower experts I know 
> when next I see them - what the maximum practical height would be for a 
> uniform cross-section guyed steel tower of the KVLY type.

Don't be shocked if they tell you it's less than 2063'....

The Warsaw tower was 2121' and it failed.  The KXJB tower was 2060'
and it failed.  There's not much margin for error in these super-tall
guyed structures.

> I assume the only thing at all magical about 2,063 feet is that it's
> the maximum the FAA will permit.

Actually, the FAA won't even permit that tall, absent an "exceptional"
reason.  I think "exceptional" as currently interpreted boils down to
"my old tower was 2060' and it just fell down".

-GAWollman