Lessons Learned from Design and Test of Latticed Steel Transmission Towers

Design of latticed steel transmission towers is a challenging task which involves lengthy modeling and detailing of significant amount of steel members and connections. Testing of the towers designed validates consistency between modeling and detailing and ensures the towers are designed to withstand design loads without premature failures. This paper presents lessons learned from design and testing of latticed steel towers in a recent project of developing a family of nine (9) 500kV transmission towers. The paper provides a discussion about the process of selecting bidders for design, detailing and fabrication of latticed steel towers, and abrief discussion of determining materials used in the towers. The paper also discusses comparisons of different tower weights for various tower base widths and foundation reactions to achieve a cost effective design combining both the tower and its foundations. Examples of modeling tower members using beam elements in PLS-TOWER are presented to illustrate the importance of fully understanding the main purpose of using beam elements in TOWER. Variations between tower modeling and detailing are presented with specific attention to member and connection eccentricities. Finally, lessons learned from six (6) tower tests are discussed.

Assessment and Repair of Steel Tower & Steel Pole Foundations

During the course of their service-life steel pole and lattice tower foundations are subjected to significant environmental forces that can have a detrimental impact on their service life. Foundations are critical components of all transmission systems and therefore are crucial to the national power grid. Deterioration identified in these foundations during regular inspections and assessment should be categorized into specific levels of structural severity. Each should be addressed accordingly by a varied regimen of mitigation and repair options. Coatings and anode installation are most commonly used to help prevent deterioration. Repair options include but are not limited to: bolted steel repairs, welded steel repairs, reinforced concrete encasement of concrete foundations and direct member replacement. This paper will address assessment and repairs specific to steel tower and steel pole foundations inclusive of structural durability, corrosion issues and standard repair methods. 2009 ASCE

Validation of Numerical Modeling and Analysis of Steel Bridge

Towers Subjected to Blast Loadings

Most major long span bridges in the United States are vulnerable to terrorism and are inviting targets due to their symbolism and the potential loss of life. To begin addressing this concern, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has initiated a State Pooled Fund Program entitled Validation of Numerical Modeling and Analysis of Steel Bridge Towers Subjected to Blast Loading . The research program includes a combination of blast testing against scaled steel tower components and parallel numerical computations using a variety of analytical tools. The original objective of this paper was to provide an overview of the research plan and an update of the testing and analytical results to date. Unfortunately, testing schedules have slipped and there are no results to report at the time of this paper preparation. Therefore, this paper will only provide an overview of the research plan. 2006 ASCE