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Another post on Missouri City towers

H

houstonradiogeek

Did you know the sticks are clearly visible (weather permitting) from the parking lot at Food Town on West Beltway 8 (just north of Bissonnet)?

All the candelabra are visible, included the short one. Speaking of which:
when is that one scheduled for demolition? Will it be replaced by a new, taller stick? I want to see photos.


And, since we are in hurricane season, what are the strongest winds that these towers (and their guy wires) can withstand before catastrophic failure?

Thank you<P ID="signature">______________
I listen to what I like.
Ratings be Damned.</P>
 
> Did you know the sticks are clearly visible (weather
> permitting) from the parking lot at Food Town on West
> Beltway 8 (just north of Bissonnet)?
>
> All the candelabra are visible, included the short one.
> Speaking of which:
> when is that one scheduled for demolition? Will it be
> replaced by a new, taller stick? I want to see photos.
>
>
> And, since we are in hurricane season, what are the
> strongest winds that these towers (and their guy wires) can
> withstand before catastrophic failure?
>
> Thank you
>
Good question, was wondering about that, some where there when alicia went through in '83, now almost 25 years later, what can they withstand? I guess cw can answer that more
 
> Speaking of which:
> when is that one scheduled for demolition? Will it be
> replaced by a new, taller stick? I want to see photos.

I dont think it will be replaced...the old 1400ft DeWalt stick only has TV14 on it...once they are gone off the tower, down it comes...No definite date has been set yet....but you can be sure I will be there with video cam, etc to capture it all and will try to post here before it happens.....there were 9 of those towers built in the US in the 60s...Houston and the shortened Dallas "Hill" tower are the only two left...Most of them have fallen or been taken down..the Dallas tower lost its candelabra when the US Navy F4 jet slammed into it and was thus shortened to ~1000ft (the tower survived better than the jet since it crashed...the pilot luckily ejected)

> And, since we are in hurricane season, what are the
> strongest winds that these towers (and their guy wires) can
> withstand before catastrophic failure?

IIRC the 2000ft towers are rated at 120mph at least....but nothing is absolute..in a Cat 3 or above hurricane, anything can happen!!
 
> the Dallas tower lost its candelabra when the US Navy
> F4 jet slammed into it and was thus shortened to ~1000ft
> (the tower survived better than the jet since it
> crashed...the pilot luckily ejected)

Was that around 1986? I remember a plane hit one of the Ceder Hill towers in this time frame, knocking several FM's off the air, including The Zoo. The stations had to operate for several weeks using temporary facilities and low power. However, I don't remember that this was a Navy jet. I thought that this incident was a private plane.
 
> Was that around 1986? I remember a plane hit one of the
> Ceder Hill towers in this time frame, knocking several FM's
> off the air, including The Zoo. The stations had to operate
> for several weeks using temporary facilities and low power.
> However, I don't remember that this was a Navy jet. I
> thought that this incident was a private plane.

1987 and it was a F4 Phantom jet...the candelabra leaned at a ~15-20deg angle until it was taken down....Was also Channel 8s and Channel 4s main tower...they now use it as a backup..their NEW taller (extra 100ft) tower is directly behind it...paid for by the US Navy (the jet was trying to land at the now closed NAS) and insurance but I heard the Navy paid a BUNCH into it.

From Fybush.com
"Around the site, Hill Tower began leasing land to other stations to build their own towers, as the Dallas-Fort Worth dial lit up with new UHF and FM facilities. And at its own site on Belt Line Road, everything just kept chugging along - until Wednesday, January 4, 1987, when a Navy F-4 jet on approach to the nearby Dallas Naval Air Station (which has since closed) clipped several of the guy wires to the candelabra. The pilot and co-pilot ejected before the plane crashed and survived; the tower suffered severe damage, including the loss of several transmission lines, knocking the stations there off the air."

Pictures of the tower are on:
http://www.fybush.com/site-021031.html Scoll down to the "Old Hill" tower pic.

5 FMs (KDMX, 3 Infinity FMs and K104) have auxs on the tower though they are slowly moving off....due to DTV backup buildout on the tower by the TV guys.
 
> I dont think it will be replaced...the old 1400ft DeWalt
> stick only has TV14 on it...once they are gone off the
> tower, down it comes...No definite date has been set
> yet....

I'm told that every time that Channel 2 raises the rent on that tower, TV14 keeps on paying it, month to month.

It looks like they don't want to move.<P ID="signature">______________
...co-moderator of the Satellite Radio, Phoenix, and San Diego boards...</P>
 
> I'm told that every time that Channel 2 raises the rent on
> that tower, TV14 keeps on paying it, month to month.
>
> It looks like they don't want to move.

They are going to have to....the lease is a typical one and gives the owner (Blue Ridge Tower Corp which is 2 and 11 combined but 2 is controlling interest) the right to dismantle it with proper notice...and 14 cant do anything about it...(they just dont want to build out a new NTSC site knowing that in a year or so, it would be off the air; would not be worth it financially to a religious non profit group ;)
 
Re: Hurricanes

>>
> IIRC the 2000ft towers are rated at 120mph at least....but
> nothing is absolute..in a Cat 3 or above hurricane, anything
> can happen!!
>

A friend did an insurance investigation on a tower that came down int he 60's in Mississippi. They collected evidence that showed the tower was hit above the 100 foot level by a cow. The damage buckled the tower, and it collapsed.

That was not a Cat 3 storm. I think it was a Cow 4 gale.
 
The most famous incident for the Missouri City towers occurred in 1982, when there was a tower collapse due to a problem in lifting the antenna to the top of the tower.

A web site that covers the ethics of the engineering problems involved, plus pictures and video are at the following site at A$M.

http://ethics.tamu.edu/ethics/tvtower/tv3.htm#introduction

and for all you Law and Order fans, the legal implications of towers, their insurability, and other interesting items.

http://www.mobar.org/journal/2001/julaug/oflaherty.htm
 
KIKK's Andy Anderson was the cameraman. The tape was on CNN later that fateful morning. It was chilling to hear the screams of the workers, followed by silence. Andy dropped the camera, which landed on its side revealing the steel cables in spring like movements, as they retracted. Absolutely awful.
 
You mean the tower collapse shown in the photos and video is the one
that happened in M.C.?


> KIKK's Andy Anderson was the cameraman. The tape was on CNN
> later that fateful morning. It was chilling to hear the
> screams of the workers, followed by silence. Andy dropped
> the camera, which landed on its side revealing the steel
> cables in spring like movements, as they retracted.
> Absolutely awful.
> <P ID="signature">______________
I listen to what I like.
Ratings be Damned.</P>
 
> You mean the tower collapse shown in the photos and video is
> the one
> that happened in M.C.?

Yes the original Senior Road tower.....TV20 was on it sidemounted and had to go off the air as they hoisted the FM master antenna....and never returned to the air...Nightline showed that video over and over the next two nights..
The base is still there (about 30ft from the base of the current Sr Road tower)...some tower sections were so deeply buried that they were cut off at ground level and dirt was just spread over them to cover them up.

> > KIKK's Andy Anderson was the cameraman. The tape was on
> CNN
> > later that fateful morning. It was chilling to hear the
> > screams of the workers, followed by silence. Andy dropped
> > the camera, which landed on its side revealing the steel
> > cables in spring like movements, as they retracted.
> > Absolutely awful.

I heard a rumor one of the FM's chief engineer was on the way to the stick when it fell....he pulled over dumbfounded....called the studios to talk to his asst....who supposively had a dream the night before about a tower falling!!
I got it from a good source but never got it confirmed as to who it was.
 
Yup you're right. I failed to see the words "Missouri City, TX" at the beginning.

Another clue: The "Twin Towers" were already in place by then as seen here: http://ethics.tamu.edu/ethics/tvtower/d3.gif

I can only imagine the fright that the residents of that neighborhood nearby felt when all that steel came down with what I assume was a thunderous boom.


BTW, what are these microwave baskets? STLs?

> > You mean the tower collapse shown in the photos and video
> is
> > the one
> > that happened in M.C.?
>
> Yes the original Senior Road tower.....TV20 was on it
> sidemounted and had to go off the air as they hoisted the FM
> master antenna....and never returned to the air...Nightline
> showed that video over and over the next two nights..
> The base is still there (about 30ft from the base of the
> current Sr Road tower)...some tower sections were so deeply
> buried that they were cut off at ground level and dirt was
> just spread over them to cover them up.
> I got it from a good source but never got it confirmed as to
> who it was.
> <P ID="signature">______________
I listen to what I like.
Ratings be Damned.</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by houstonradiogeek on 07/20/05 04:58 AM.</FONT></P>
 
> Yup you're right. I failed to see the words "Missouri City,
> TX" at the beginning.
>
> Another clue: The "Twin Towers" were already in place by
> then as seen here:
> http://ethics.tamu.edu/ethics/tvtower/d3.gif
>
> I can only imagine the fright that the residents of that
> neighborhood nearby felt when all that steel came down with
> what I assume was a thunderous boom.
>
>
> BTW, what are these microwave baskets? STLs?
>
> > > You mean the tower collapse shown in the photos and
> video
> > is
> > > the one
> > > that happened in M.C.?
> >
> > Yes the original Senior Road tower.....TV20 was on it
> > sidemounted and had to go off the air as they hoisted the
> FM
> > master antenna....and never returned to the
> air...Nightline
> > showed that video over and over the next two nights..
> > The base is still there (about 30ft from the base of the
> > current Sr Road tower)...some tower sections were so
> deeply
> > buried that they were cut off at ground level and dirt was
>
> > just spread over them to cover them up.
> > I got it from a good source but never got it confirmed as
> to
> > who it was.
> >
> I dont know at one time or another on channel 20 very clear video signal, now it could of been an optical illusion(sp) you could see part of tower in the background of the video, this was either before or after the fall, me and and a couple of freinds would notice it every once in while during rocket or astro games when watching ch. 20, every once in a while you would see it, more likely "just seeing things".
 
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