Safety System Installation Guide for ARE Wind Poles V. 1 May 2011
** Climbing pegs and ladder should be installed before the pole is erected.** A. Install climbing pegs Install climbing pegs (bolt set) to the climbing peg brackets which are welded on tower shaft (see photos below). Climbing Peg Climbing Peg Bracket Pole Climbing peg bracket Climbing Peg Installation Diagram of Climbing Peg Tower with installed climbing pegs
B. Install climbing ladder (1) Bolt ladder bracket to ladder fixing bracket welded on tower shaft with M16x50 bolts. (2) Attach ladder to ladder bracket with U-style clamps and M12x50 bolts. (3) If safety cage is used, preassemble it and then attach it to the tower. Installation cross section and close-up view of ladder and safety cage Tower with ladder installed Tower with ladder and safety cage installed
C. Install the safety system The safety system is designed to run the whole length of the tower. It includes safety device assembly, bottom bracket, steel rope, cable guide, safety sleeve and safety belt. Safety belt Climbing device sleeve (top sleeve collet) Steel rope Cable guide Safety belt Safety sleeve Bottom bracket (cable frapping assembly) Structure and related components of safety climbing device Cable Guide Top Steel Collet and Safety Device Assembly Bottom Bracket
D. Install the safety device assembly (1)Bolt the safety device assembly to the bracket on the top of the tower as pictured: Safety device assembly (2)Assemble the steel rope and safety device assembly 1. Unfold steel rope coil in open area. 2. Feed the steel rope through the hole of the safety device assembly, including the outside casing, the rubber slip cover, and the top steel collet as pictured below. The length of the steel rope above the top steel collet should be about 25-40 mm. 3. Pull down steel rope so that the steel rope is locked in steel collet. (Note: The steel rope will be locked once it passes through the top steel collet, so do this slowly and pay attention to the direction of the collet. The slack cannot be more than 40 mm.) 4. Then, install rub cover of outside casing. Rubber cover Rub sleeve Steel rope Top steel collet Outside casing Installation of steel rope and top steel collet
(3)Installation of Cable Guide Cable guide is used to prevent the steel rope from swinging during strong winds and to help climbers stay in position. Cable guide should be attached to the L-shape bracket welded on the tower shaft between the climbing pegs. The climbing device middle connection and bolts and steel rope should be straight from top to bottom after installing the cable guide. The distance between two cable guides is about 10m (almost 33 feet). Cable guide Middle connection Cable guide
(4) Installation of bottom bracket and cable frapping assembly The bottom bracket and cable frapping assembly aid climbers safety. Bottom bracket should be bolted to the terminal fixing bracket welded on the tower near the bottom of the step bolts. The bottom bracket and safety device assembly must be in a straight line after installation. The cable frapping assembly holds the steel rope in place. Bolt the steel rope to the steel rod of the cable frapping assembly, then attach them to the tower with the bottom bracket. Note: The recommended pre-tension torque force for the nuts of the retainer clip is 61N.m. Cable frapping assembly Bottom Bracket Terminal Fixing Bracket Steel collet Bottom bracket Terminal Fixing Bracket
(5) Recheck the installation after the steps above. Step 1: Check all fasteners to make sure they are properly tightened Step 2: Check steel rope to ensure it is straight Step 3: Ensure the steel rope does not have contact with tower Notes for Safety Climbing System Installation: Two or more people using the steel rope at the same time is not allowed. Operator must have the necessary protection during installation, including glasses, gloves, work shoes, and anti-falling device or other protection system. Installation should be far from power transmission lines or any facilities that may cause problems. Make sure the steel rope and cable guide are clean before installation; the cable guide may not work well if it or steel rope are dirty. The steel rope is very important for the system and must be inspected prior to installation to ensure it is not damaged. Protective equipment needed for steel rope installation includes gloves and protective glasses.
Slip-Joint Pole Assembly Guidelines 413 Wacouta Street Suite #440 St Paul, MN 55101 Ph: (651) 330-1263 www.arewindtowers.com Rev. XC
General Guidelines for Slip-Joint Pole Assembly This information cannot be comprehensive enough to cover all situations or the details of all structures. Therefore it is essential that the owner and contractor carefully plan all aspects of the installation process, not relying only on these guidelines to determine the steps to be followed. 1. Leveling nuts should be adjusted in the horizontal plane before installing the pole onto the anchor bolts (Detail B). 2. (For tilt-up poles only) hinged base section should be installed onto the foundation prior to assembling the upper tower sections (Figure 1). Upper pole sections can be installed as one complete unit on the ground and then assembled onto the horizontal upper base section or each pole section can be assembled in succession beginning at the hinged upper base section. 3. Where space near the foundation and lifting capabilities permit, it is preferable to assemble the complete structure on the ground and erect it as a single unit (Figure 2). 4. Tower section/s should be lifted or supported at its center of gravity during assembly. 5. The sections of the pole should be aligned on the ground and supported, typically with wood blocks (Figure 2), in such a manner that they will readily fit together. Care should be taken to prevent dirt, stones, etc. from getting trapped between the mating surfaces. Remove any burrs and galvanized coating buildup on the inside of the female end and the outside of the male end. 6. If the structure is assembled vertically, extra care may be needed to assure that all joints are properly assembled as indicated in the following paragraphs. 7. Proper alignment of pole sections is facilitated by one of three ways depending upon the structures design details. 1. Collinearly aligning the welded identification tags on each pole section. 2. Collinearly aligning the jacking nuts or other ancillary features such as climbing peg lugs or ladder brackets. 3. Collinearly aligning the longitudinal weld seams. 8. Using a tape measure to measure the pole ends, verify that the roundness does not deviate by more than 25mm. This can be done by taking multiple measurements and subtracting the smallest value from the largest value. If the pole is out of round by more than 25mm a bottle jack with wood block supports can be placed inside the pole, near the edge, to bring the pole back to round (Contact ARE for more details). 9. To facilitate the assembly, mating surfaces may be lubricated. Care should be taken not to use a lubricant that will later leak from the joint and stain the pole. Soapy water has been used successfully for this purpose. 10. Minimum slip distance is 1.5 times the diameter of the female end. This distance should be marked on the male end of the pole. Anywhere beyond minimum slip is considered an acceptable joint provided the joint is tight. A final check should be made to assure that the specified minimum overlap has been achieved. 11. A number of methods may be considered for applying the necessary force to achieve a tight joint (Figure 4). The method selected may depend upon the size of the pole sections, the type of pole design, and the equipment available to the contractor. The two most common methods use two ratchet chain hoists or similar devices on opposite sides of the pole tube. a. For pole sections without jacking nuts use cables or synthetic straps wrapped and secured to the pole sections with a choker type hitch. Make sure chokers do not interfere and prevent the minimum slip from being achieved. b. Jacking nuts welded to pole sections use M24 bolts to secure jacking bracket (Figure 3). Additional washers shall be used to prevent bolts from extending into pole ID. 12. Equal forces should be applied by the two hoists simultaneously. Forces should be applied at a slow and steady pull rate. 13. Joint tightening will be facilitated by oscillating the advancing section with the supporting crane or by striking the pole in the joint area with a hammer using a cushioning block of wood. The open end edge of the pole section can also be struck using a cushioning block of wood to protect the pole from successive hammer blows. These forces should be applied until the joint is tight with no more than small gaps (which can sometimes be caused by a slight mismatch in the shapes of the mating sections). 14. Prior to lifting the structure, any slipover joint below the crane attachment point should be securely lashed to prevent any possibility of separation during lifting. For additional safety, a hook capable of supporting the entire weight can be attached to the handhole opening and connected to the crane attachment point.
Lower Base Section Upper Base Section Tilt-Up (Hinged) Pole Detail B Male End Leveling Nut and Washer Female End Upper Pole Sections *Note: ARE offers many types of tilt-up poles using screw jacks, hydraulics and gin poles. Not all tilt up towers are shown. Figure 1. Fixed Pole Support Tower Sections with Wood Blocks Figure 2. # Description 1 Jacking Bracket 2 M24x3 x 45mm 3 Washer 762mm (30in) Pull Force Requirement Inner Flat to Flat Diameter of the Female End (mm) Minimum Pull Force "A" Per Side (kn) <300 20 300-500 30 500-700 40 1 700-900 50 "A" 3 2 900-1200 60 1200-1400 80 1400-1600 100 1600-1800 120 1800-2000 150 Welded Jacking Nut >2000 200 Note: It is up to the installer to determine the appropriate device (i.e., ratchet chain hoist, ratchet binder, cable hoist, etc.) Figure 3. for achieving the minimum pull force requirement. Figure 4.
Unloading towers from a dry (GP) container How Dry Containers are Loaded Required Equipment 1 strap with over 10T capacity 1 adjustable wrench to remove the bolt on the steel cable Wood pallets, plywood, or 2x4s to protect the towers from scratches when unloaded onto the ground (there will be some plywood in the container that may be used for this) 2 forklifts with over 10T capacity (Note: The necessary capacity for the forklift AND strap will be determined by the heaviest bundle of the tower.)
How dry containers are loaded Examples of loaded dry container contents
General Procedure for unloading a dry container Park the trailer on a hard, flat ground surface Open one of the container doors and inspect the appearance of each bundle of towers. If everything appears to be stable, then open the other container door. Have one person get to upper bundles and release by removing the fixing cables. Check for a set of rollers under one end of the towers. (Towers can be unloaded with or without rollers present.) Bind the 10T-capacity strap at the end of one bundle and tie up on the forklift frame Raise the bundle slightly with the forklift and then gently pull the bundle out. If there are rollers under the towers, pull the bundle until the roller moves close to the door limit Have the second forklift drive to the side of the bundle and raise the bundle slightly at the balance point. The first forklift should move away after the bundle is raised up by the second forklift. The second forklift should truck away the bundle. Repeat the same process for another bundle until the container unloading is finished.
Unloading Large Towers from an Open-Top (OT) Container The tower pictured above is 120 long and was shipped in sections that are nested together, one inside the other. Towers are not always nested; sometimes they are packaged in bundles or strapped flat to a pallet. The top and rear doors on the container are shown open. Each tower section is wrapped around the outside to prevent scratches and damage. Page 1 of 4
Attach straps to evenly distribute tower weight. Page 2 of 4
Lift the tower forward out of the container toward a protected solid flat surface where it can be set down. Page 3 of 4
Set the tower on stacked lumber or other material to keep it off the ground. If the tower is set directly on the ground, rocks and other material can puncture the protective wrapping and scratch the surface. This is especially important for powder coated towers. Page 4 of 4