Newspaper Page Text
sVo R B gS AR S i Sl
U pe g i » o
S **zp&"fifw%’% LA R B ol g o
i e LA SB T b
e AR R
B e R 3_? ;&”w i \:@% ,\.,.‘ I
v e e BSR O R
ST ek oeeßt NS L R gl 4 gy
Al S AR e B LB LR Vo,
S S{“‘m‘} o b i?'\"" o L sl & Ui s ! B
i e i T LR el ¥ 3
R te i M PN b ke N
22l “3. & a..;?,. n |
o e et U “’
Tt biy g&ifia e B AN
o ToSR S p 4
e R g S )
vvs 3 e
i A RS o b
TG et el iy
'\fl“?,‘i, 53 eI S ! 4 X
T e | r 00l
B R oo i XA
£ PN b 4~ 4 5.
¥ TN N T i
. TN ] el s R
’gk ” A g s £ ; 3 e
v o NSRS S 4 sy
AN R e e it
s o N eTR £ S
o B N ee B e
: 7MLTI ;f [ T P L
b e T % Hadt M i UM ey 3
o e »4;,;«“_.:\%’-4‘?‘]” o ‘;;),)t ’b&i%\f,', o “Q{.%v P
T i TR T e S NS
LN ei G el s
em; \‘?:‘:t ”fii ‘l4*‘ "é;fi Lo fiw: W
eb gl e S
A o ttgtt"j‘: b‘, bR :
G T R
5N ik i
ikt I e R
& ¥ ! \‘ § T
i 4
o
. 3
:‘
Sue . B -”e &
The Ascent Begins
Crewmen Paul Sfoed and Zach Prince begin their
climb nearly 200-feet upward. Once at the top, they
will bolt the 400-pound section of antenna into place.
On a later t.r_ifi;ethey will spot weld it to ensure a good
connection. men are employees of World Tower
Co. of Kentucky. (Staff photo by Kay Abbott).
Antenna Crew Works In
Danger Of ‘High Life’
By KAY ABBOTT
Staff Writer
Dangling 200 feet in the air
secured ont.w a slender rope
and the judfnant of
your boss may seem like a bad
ot Yor Sipiyens ol Weld
work for oyees
Eower Company of Mayfield,
y.
Functioning under
duedevi&w circumstances hei’
t ir routine as they
lt’r.:v: the' U.S. buildin
antenna towers for radio mfi
television stations.
The five-man crew spent
the week here building a
197-ft. radio tower just south
Put yourself
inthe
driver’s seat
-\j‘“’;‘ : _
CHECK WITH
US FIRST
When Financing
Your Auto Or Truck
YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID!
BT
NATION | ANV
NATIONAL BANK
| a 0 |V LT LT
Offices m Summerville and Trion e IESAYN
DRIVE-IN IS sMamArs.
WINDOW HOURS: MondayFeday @ Moaoe e
of Summerville.
In addition to preparing
the site, pou:tl:f the concrete
foundation rigging the
guy wires, thlc &:.rew m::nbcs
spent severa ys 8 ngtu
tg:ough the air as each 20-ft.,
400-pound section of steel was
hoisted ig:o ,;l:ce As the
crewmen dan on ropes or
rode the stoeF sections to the
heights of the tower, Um!
trusted their lives to the skill
of their foreman, Roger
Walker.
Walker operates the block
that keeps men, heavy
welding equipment and steel
girders moving through the
Airhat the n'ght pl}:ce -ndu;hn
right time. From his positi
W?feet down and seVC'a
hundred feet away from his
men, he controls the show
with smooth precision. With
the gear operating the pulley
i
!
£ T
r;s
I
g
ol
f\.i
I
! !
!
i
'.
]
|
. o, ¢
Gin Beam In Place
World Tower crew members “‘walk'’ a 40-foot gin beam
into gel:ce before adding the next section of tower. The
gin m contains the pulley system that lifts the
400-pound sections of the tower aloft as they are posi
tioned. The ugpermobt crewman is working 100-feet off
the ground. (Staff photo by Kay Abbott).
systaemedin o'l‘re hand and the
rope tied to the moving anten
na section in the oth;rn.‘Wulker
kema the girders moving aloft
without m“ITIB the tower or
workmen. Claiming he never
has a serious moment, his off
handedness belies his obvious
concentration. Never taking
his eyes off the young
crewmen who depend on him,
he makes precise jt:.?mentu
of distance from hundreds of
feet away.
“There's not much that
you can tell a man that will
reanl‘liy help him before fi'rou
send him u&t.here for the first
time,” Walker stated. ‘'Some
will tell you to never look
down, but you have to if *01)
do ybur work,”" hesaid. '“The
best way to break a new man
in is to start him building a
new tower. He has to climb a
little higher as each section®
goes up and gradually gets us
ed to the gteizht..'y ‘:’alkor
said. "If he reaches a point
where he can't stand to go any
higher, we can't use him.
Every man has to be able to
cover every aspect of the job."”
The highest tower the crew
has encountered was an
830-ft. radio antenna in Orlan
do, Fla.
As thefi'eride the steel sec
tions to the top of the tower,
crew members say th.e‘y never
‘worry about falling, although
they have experienced some
close calls. Their only support
comes from a canvas harness
belt with a single 10-inch hook
that can be attached to the
‘steel girders.
‘ Confident in the ability of
the harness to support them,
the crewmen have a habit of
riding without holding on to
anything. However,
crewmember Paul Speed
became a bit more careful
following a recent close call.
Having reached the rt,:g of a
tower several hund feet
high, Speed glanced down just
in time to see his support hook
break loose from his harness
and fall to the sround. A
metal coui;ling had suddenly
broken. A t,houfih he quickly
regained his balance and safe
:iy completed his task, the inci
ent has given him cause to
checkhehia equipment every
time he goes up.
On the roncr for weeks at a
time, the crew has traveled
the entire country in their
work, Within the last few
months, the team has worked
in Alberquefiue, New Mexico,
Orlando, a., Nashville,
Tenn., and upper Ohio. As
employees of only two com
panies who both manufacture
and assemble the heavy
antennas, their services are in
high demand. The crew
averages about a week in com
pleting each job. Orders are
taken on a first-come basis, so
the crew does not travel in an
orderly route from one job to
the next. ‘ln November, the
compan{v told us we had
orders for 66 more towers to
be built. By now there’s no
t.elling how many we have
ahead of us. We never reall[\i
know where the next job wi
be until we get the call. We
had planned to head for Ohio
all week but we were just told
to do a job in Atlanta before
we fi
e Summerville tower is
composed of nine 20-foot sec
tions and one 10-foot section
anchored to a three-foot con
crete base. Guy wires an
chored in five-feet of concrete
hold the structure steadg'é
even in heavy winds, Once t
tower was in place the three
heavy cables balancing the
structure had to be
systematically tightened and
loosened to make the tower
Kirfectlg straight. The tower
s a builtin sway of only
fractions of an inch. ‘‘This
tower would survive just
about any type of winds ex
cept for a direct hit by a tor
nado,”” Walker said. A built-in
lightning rod increases the
tower’s protection. Lightning
striking the tower travels
downward into an oil-filled
pedestal that forms the last 16
inches of the base. The current
would then pass harmlessly
into the ground.
Thousands of feet of wire
are buried in 240 neat rows,
making a spoke pattern
around the tower, ‘fiw thin
wires provide the radial
ground system needed to
strengthen the signal that will
emanate from the tower.
ST T TIRR (T T SUMMERVILLE AND TRION
1 LISTERINE
SR MOUTH
=2 WASH
% 32-OL.
=1 REG. 3.3
LIMIT 2 2
~_ WHITE RAIN
&8 HAIR
»”| SPRAY
AR
i 1 |
WRANGLER SALE
T LARGE ASSORTMENT OF gl
AR ,A,‘l i) ;;,:'?i"z z-'i vn\)
S~ LADIES' FALL AND WINTER
y ; 1Y el Ll J%
N N W ,),
R now O/ P iawd
% !rfl‘ F PRICED /° %’A &\. /.
4 “ W AT, .. OFF ] 1o %.
LTS
. ”f'iigoo
X
: :f: Z '55?%':“2;'2"
4 5
lIPLOC
SANDWICH BAGS
BOX OF 50
oo COLECO 22
2 JNTIE Oy
7r PATCH ~ 1
KIDS ‘4\
= = JUSTARRVED (9 |
LARGE ASSORTMENT
7S M"Y 16
g
i Tt '!- % OUTFIT
LAY-AWAYS WELCOME
ouaker| ALL
MOTOR
2
HAVOLINE, VALVOLINE,
CASTROL, QUAKER STATE
; 89 L
PEPSI
COLA %
S
2-LITER
BOTTLE
91EA.
Launory fi m |
DETERGENT JNIES
49-OL. SIZE
I LIMIT 2
PARSON’'S %
AMMONIA =
=
28-01. —
'~m L) |
w| & )| g J
CHOICEOF ——
PAMPERS OR LUVS
DISPOSABLE DIAPERS
CONVENIENCE PACK
REG. s 99
*9.99
ACH' BLANKETS
wnrufi:L;N BINDING,
DOUBLE BED SIZE
8.00 2
VALUE
B e R e e
: y
MRS. ALLISON’S
" Chocolate Flavored Cremes 16 02
* Assorted Cremes 16 0z
* Banana Cremes 16 Oz
* Chocolate Chip 13-02 z
* Frosted Coconut Bars 12 02
YOUR CHOICE
20-GALLON
GALVANIZED
TRASH CAN
IR '
Sh
187
SLIM-FAST 555
THE NATURAL
WAYTO (=2
LOSE WEIGHT =2
16-01.