Yesterday morning the one of the communications towers on Broken Rock Mt. in western Arkansas collapsed. This self supporting tower was over 200 feet tall and had cell service and the NOAA weather radio for our area. The tower collapsed with a wind of no more than 50 miles per hour and had survived hurricanes Gustov and Ike.
Last year I found some large bolts, nuts, washers on the ground at a similar tower where our repeater in Hot Springs is located. We had a tower company inspect our tower and they found loose bolts and one leg connection with all but one bolt missing with no nut. I am mo expert but it appears to me by looking at the leg connection of the collapsed tower the same condition occurred. Both towers were less than 12 years old. Pictures can be seen at http://hsara.org/. Scroll below the map. The moral of this story is check those bolts and check them often. Wayne WA5LUY
