No we aren’t talking about high heels or stilts. We’re talking about towers.
The selection of a tower at first appears to be an easy process. However it seems that many of us may get bogged down with some of the details.
To obtain wireless coverage, the higher the antenna the greater the coverage distances. Therefore the first step is to determine the required height of the tower.
Once height is determined and the location of the tower has been established, the type of structure needs to be considered. A Guyed Tower provides height at the lowest cost point but requires much more property than other structures. Example, if the tower is 100 feet in height, each of the 3 guy points would be 70 feet from the center of the tower. Since real estate costs tend to be high, this type of tower in recent years is not commonly deployed.
Cosmetically monopoles, tri-poles and disguised structures are better accepted in urban areas but are the most expensive structures to purchase and build. Therefore self-support towers are used most often to obtain height.
Once the type of tower has been selected, there are additional factors that need to be considered. Some will be decided by the owner of the tower while other will be imposed by government regulations.
In the USA, the Design Standard is based on ANSI TIA/EIA Rev F or G. To obtain a set of PE Stamped Drawings, the tower must be designed to this Standard.
In Canada the Design Standard is based on CSA -S37-01. To obtain a set of P Eng. Stamped Drawings, the tower must be designed to this Standard.
In rural areas, a ‘Survival’ tower, not designed to the above Standards with no additional safety factors may be acceptable.
The design of the tower is now based on loading. The loading factors to be considered are:
The number, types of antennas and location on the tower need to be defined.
This information is County/Site specific and can be obtained from Government Agencies.
For those that live in winter climates, this information can be obtained from the local weather service.
If you are still reading…
Although final selection and design of the tower is based on all of the above, Alliance’s in house tower experts are available to answer questions and assist with budgetary and final tower selections. Just contact us for assistance!
Thanks to Michael Hicks for the great photo.