Atmospheric Icing and Tower Collapse in the United States

• Main Author: Mulherin, N. D.
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1996
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Radio Communications; Meteorology; Structural Engineering and Building Technology; *ICE FORMATION; *COLLAPSE; *RADIO TOWERS; DATA BASES; POSITION(LOCATION); WEATHER; DAMAGE; STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES; FAILURE; TOPOGRAPHY; GLAZE; ICE ACCRETION; Canada; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA430985; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA430985

CRREL has established a database of communication tower collapses (TV, AM, FM, CATV, microwave, cellular, and so forth) that have occurred in the United States due to atmospheric ice accretion. The information was compiled primarily from newspapers articles and telephone interviews, but also from a multitude of other sources. The database currently lists 140 such failures of towers, ranging in height from 40 to 2000 ft above ground level (agl), dating as far back as 1959. For each case, I am compiling the following information: 1) structural characteristics of the tower, 2) the geographic location and topography, 3) a description of the collapse, 4) concurrent weather, and 5) damage. The database is growing and therefore not fully analyzed. In many cases, data in all these topic areas do not exist or are not available; some data I have yet to obtain. Trends in the current information are presented. Pres. at the International Workshop on Atmospheric Icing of Structures (7th), IWAIS '96, held in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada on 3-6 Jun 1996.