Here's how it went at my workplace today: http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0108/487185.html Looks like we will be very busy for the next few months.
"A 2,000-foot television tower that was the second-tallest structure in the world when it was built has collapsed as workers were restringing guy wires." Didn't the tallest structure in the world, a Polish television tower, also collapse when they worked on the guy wires?
It was our transmitting tower located at Redfield, Arkansas. Fortunately for me, I work in the engineering studio here in Little Rock which is 40 miles away from the tower. One of my friends and co-workers was down there and had just walked out of the transmitter building when he heard loud popping and snapping and saw the tower start to fall. He ran under the eave of the building and laid down on the ground and curled up into a ball to make himself as small a target as possible. It was all over in a few seconds. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. I haven't been to "ground zero" yet, but will probably take a trip down there on Monday. From what I'm told, every piece of the tower itself was bent or totally ripped apart. Fortunately our transmitter building itself was essentially undamaged. One of the flailing guy wires ripped a 20 foot satellite dish in half like a giant slice of pie! Due to the disaster, we are "off the air", but we are still feeding all the area cable TV systems and satellite services so the majority of urban viewers around here can still see us. However, Farmer Browns in the rural areas can't see us for a long time. TV stations will be required to cease analog transmission and switch over to digital in February 2009 anyway, so there will be a lot of corporate decision making as to what the future will be for our tower site.
Wow - 2,000 ft. is tall for a tower. I have to avoid some 1,400 towers here flying and I think those are scary! BTW, tell Beth and Kristin high for me. Any chance for a "To FerrariChat.com" 8 by 10?
Arlie I think I see a piece of 0846's original chassis in the wreckage. Could you pull it out for me? Glad no one was hurt! Those Newscasters are Babes! Keep them safe from Hill's Husband. Best
Arlie, I love to give you crap for your weird postings but I am glad not you nor anyone else was hurt - and thanks for posting the pics, thats pretty interesting (in a rubbernecking type of way). So.... what will you do to recover? Off the air temporarily? Holes in coverage? Rebroadcast through someone else's tower?
Sorry for the late reply, but I've been off for 2 days. I took a trip down to "ground zero" yesterday afternoon. Nobody around but myself and a security guard. Pretty scary walking around the debris field. Hundreds of tons of bent steel and it all occured within about 7 to 10 seconds. The top of the tower speared into the ground, probably going a 100MPH, and the weight of the mass behind it pushed it horizontally under the ground for about 50 feet, then reemerged for another 50 or 60 feet. It left a furrow in the ground about 6 feet deep and 8 feet wide. Giant guy wires that were 2 inches in diameter were snapped around like string. There was a ladder in the center of the tower for climbing purposes. (There was also an elevetor.) I found a piece of the ladder completely seperate from the tower embedded in the dirt 60 away from any other debris. The destruction is unbelievable. I took some old fashioned film pics with my 35MM. If I find no (corporate) objections, I will try and post them eventually. There were about a dozen beacon and navigation warning lights throughout the heighth of the tower. I wanted to find one for a souvenir. There was nothing left of any of them. I found one small piece of a glass lense about 6 inches long. Total obliteration. We are currently back on nearly all the cable systems and DirectTV and Dish Network. But the tower also contained many of our microwave transmitters and receivers for various video relay systems. We are now the "Apollo 13" of local TV stations. Still going, but we're lashed together! Rob, I'll work on that "8 by 10" glossy photo from Beth and Kristin. As for me, I spend most of my newsroom time "consulting" with Anne! JG: No sign of the 0846 chassis, but there might be a tire hammer lying somewhere among the tools and debris! In all seriousness, I actually thought about 0846 as I was walking around the debris field!!! I noticed that many of the original antenna and microwave pieces had serial numbers and work numbers scribbled on the insides of the metal pieces. All about 1965 vintage. Perhaps I can save some of the metal and construct a chassis? Two vehicles were damaged in the incident. My friend Larry's truck was parked in front of the building and was struck by some falling guy wires. Minor body dents on his aging truck. Just additional "patina" to him. Unfortunately, a riding lawnmower was also struck by the same guy wires, ripping off some of the front fiberglass and the engine air cleaner. Since it's already a spyder, there's not much to do except repair the front end!