NATE draws 1,600 to tower construction trade show

A changing of the guard marked the first day of the National Association of Tower Erectors trade show today in Orlando, FL, at the Rosen Center Hotel.

The association’s chairman, Kevin J. Hayden, president of Hayden Tower Service, Topeka, KS, stepped down from the position he had held since he and three others took steps to form the association seven years ago at a 1984 meeting arranged by founding board member Bill Carlson of Watertown, SD. Hayden will continue on the board of directors for another year; Carlson himself stepped down from the board of directors.

Incoming chairman Craig Snyder, himself one of the four original organizers, became the new chairman.

Carlson initiated the association by inviting tower erectors to meet at a Dallas hotel to organize an association. Snyder recalled that Carlson, Hayden, Don Doty and he had gathered the night before the meeting to discuss preliminary plans.

“It was Carlson’s time and money that went into the first meeting in Dallas,” Snyder said.

By the time the organizational meeting of 62 people ended, the new association’s members had set goals for the newly formed board that elected Hayden as chairman. Snyder said the group since had been recognized by the telecommunications and broadcast industries. He described Hayden as a reluctant public speaker who is a good leader behind the scenes. He said Carlson has been the group’s fiscal conservative, making sure that NATE remained financially healthy.

Ken Meador, chairman of the trade show committee, said that NATE’s first trade show in 1985 drew 12 exhibitors and 170 registrants. This year, he numbered the attendance at 1,600 with an exhibition space boasting 120 vendors.

Monument to technical achievement

Larry Nelson, executive vice president of development of CommScope and general manager of its wireless division, said in his keynote address that the tower erectors’ accomplishment in building the wireless infrastructure would go down in history with the building of the railroads, the telephone network, the electrical power grid and perhaps the Internet.

“You should be proud that you have built a great monument to technical achievement,” Nelson told the audience.

Nelson said that the tower construction industry is at a predictable point of business contraction that is common to the growth curve for all industries based on technological advancement. Provided no “disruptive technology” interrupts the usual growth cycle, Nelson said the industry could look forward to a period of renewed growth. But he warned that the ultrawideband technology approved by the FCC possibly represents a disruptive technology that could derail tower construction recovery.

Despite the warning, Nelson said that the tower construction business is fundamentally sound because wireless communications has value to offer consumers and businesses. Meanwhile, he expects promoters to “hype” the new technology to Wall Street in hopes of stimulating a money flow that can initiate a fresh growth cycle for ultrawideband technology.

He also predicted that within the lifetime of his audience, voice communications would become “very cheap, even free.” Nelson included long distance and wireless communications in his prediction, saying that voice communications would be carried and paid for by the data networks that tower erectors are helping to build.

EIA Revision G

Speaking at one of the breakout sessions, David Brinker, vice president of engineering at Rohn Industries, Peoria, IL, gave an extensive summary of “Revision G” to the EIA standards for tower construction, including explanations of wind and ice loading. The new standards are much more complex than the existing standards and will require much more detailed analysis and calculations to engineer new towers and modifications and extensions of existing towers.

The revision, which continues to be developed by working committees, may be adopted as early as next year. Brinker said that allowable loading for many towers in urban areas might increase under Revision G because many additional variables and new loading standards may take into account factors previously not included. But he said designs that would use “default” characteristics probably would find the new standard more restrictive than the existing standard.

Mark A. Lies II, an attorney with Seyfarth Shaw, Chicago, spoke to the tower erectors about the liabilities associated with the “multi-employer workplace.” He warned employers not to begin work with a handshake contract. In fact, he warned them not to begin work before a written contract is signed because if a matter connected with the work should lead to court, a judge might rule that the employer waived all rights under the contract.

He explained that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a directive on Dec. 10, 2001, about the multi-employer workplace that details the steps that the federal agency would take when inspecting a tower work site and when interviewing tower construction employees.

He recommended that an employer should check the OSHA Web site to verify that information posted there reflects the employer’s true record, especially if the employer has citations that might inaccurately be classified. Customers who use the site to check tower construction companies might be put off by a bad, yet inaccurate, record.

Lies said that when OSHA investigates an injury or fatality, the agency doesn’t have to give Miranda warnings because it doesn’t place anyone under arrest. Nevertheless, information it gathers could be used in a criminal prosecution.

“If you have problems with your safety program, you could be incriminating yourself” by talking to an OSHA representative investigating an incident, Lies said. “You can say you’ll find out the answer later, or you can remain mute. And don’t make up false documents or put safety equipment in place that wasn’t there before the investigator arrived. If you do, there’s no place for you to go,” he said, except possibly to prison.

“Employers have legal rights during an OSHA inspection. Consult with legal counsel in the event of an inspection of an accident to ensure that employer and employee rights are protected and that crucial evidence is preserved,” Lies advised.

Grounding advice

Ernest M. Duckworth Jr., P.E., strategic accounts manager for SNC Manufacturing, Oshkosh, WI, condensed what he said was a three-day presentation into an hour’s worth of advice about lightning protection for tower sites.

Citing $26 billion in annual lightning-caused damage in the United States, Duckworth said much of the damage could be easily avoided. He advised tower owners to use a single-point ground, a “divide and control” grounding field of buried radial wires with passive cathodic protection and optical isolators for communications lines.

Jim Goldwater, the trade association’s legal counsel, reported that NATE was making progress in negotiations with OSHA to extend its guidelines for hoisting workers up a tower, known as “riding the line,” to include elevations below 200 feet.

Tom Bunk, chairman of NATE’s Safety and Education Committee, said that the association was making a video about RF safety and compliance.

He also mentioned NATE’s participation with the North Carolina state OSHA office, which is formulating guidelines for tower safety and inspection that could later be adopted by other states and the federal OSHA. In connection with the North Carolina project, he said that Pat Moore of SpectraSite was preparing a hoist operator booklet on NATE’s behalf.

“We have to have [the booklet] because North Carolina OSHA requires operator training in its tower standards. The booklet may lead to a video on the subject,” Bunk said.

Fred Hardy, chairman of NATE’s membership committee, reported that membership is up 27%, rising from 450 members last year to 570 members this year.

The NATE trade show continues through Friday afternoon.