Attachment 2 Guam SAMWAS-200 Inspection Report-2017.pdf

Site Inspection

SITE NAME:

SAMWAS-200

NAVCOMTELSTA Guam

LOCATION:

Dededo, Guam

COMPANY:

NAVFAC Marianas 36CONs/LGCB

January 6th, 2017

NOTICE

This work is based upon our best interpretation of available information and is solely for the use of American Tower Corporation. This data and their interpretation however, are constantly changing. Therefore, we do not warrant that any undertaking based on this report will be successful, or that others will not require further research or actions in support of this proposal or future undertaking. In the event of errors, our liability is strictly limited to replacement of this document with a corrected 1one. Liability for consequential damages is specifically disclaimed. Any use of this document constitutes an agreement to hold Lawrence Behr Associates, Inc. and its employees harmless and indemnify it for any and all liability, claims, demands, litigation expenses and attorney’s fees arising out of such use.

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COPYRIGHT © 2017 BY

LAWRENCE BEHR ASSOCIATES, INC.

GREENVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

Site Inspection:

SAMWAS-200

NAVFAC Marianas 36CONs/LGCB Dededo, Guam

INTRODUCTION

Lawrence Behr Associates, Inc. (LBA) has been retained by Naval Facilities Command, Marianas (NAVFAC) to evaluate the condition and operation of the SAMWAS-200 (SAMWAS) antenna system located at the Naval Command Telecommunications Station (NAVCOMTELSTA) located in Dededo, Guam. This system was installed in 2008 and is used for the broadcasting of Navel Telex (NAVTEX) messages. The areas of concern at this site are the following:

1. The upper fold wire support beam diagonal braces have experienced severe rust and corrosion failure.

2. The lower fold wire support beam diagonal braces have experienced moderate rust and corrosion but have not failed.

3. Condition of guy lines and guy line insulators.

4. Condition of fold wires and fold wire tower stand-offs.

5. Overall condition of the tower.

6. The ability to properly operate after vandalism/theft.

SITE AND FACILITY CONSIDERATIONS

The SAMWAS is located within the antenna farm located at the NAVCOMTELSTA at approximate coordinates N13° 28’ 29.7”, E144° 50’ 9.7”in Dededo, Guam. The support structure is a uniform cross section guyed tower, 200’ in height. This facility is used exclusively for NAVTEX message broadcast purposes. In order to facilitate medium wave broadcast operations, this site also has a buried ground system consisting of 120 #10 soft drawn copper radials approximately 475’ in length. An aerial photo and a photo of the site ID sign may be located in Appendix 1.

UPPER FOLD WIRE SUPPORT ARM DISCUSSION

The upper fold wire support arms are hot dipped galvanized channel that extend 8’ from the tower face. The arms utilize a tubular diagonal brace for stability.

The support arms show minimum amounts of rust. The tubular diagonals, however, have completely disintegrated and no longer provide any practical functionality. Photographs of these support arms may be located Appendix 2.

Recommendation:

LBA recommends replacing the upper fold wire support arms and diagonals with newly re-designed supports. The new design does not use tubular diagonals and all members use a more robust hot dip galvanization process.

LOWER FOLD WIRE SUPPORT ARM DISCUSSION

The design of these supports is similar to the upper supports with two differences. The lower support arms also support the LBA BaseMax™ ground enhancing system. Because of the additional 8’ this adds to the length of the support arms, a longer diagonal is used. These diagonals do not show the amount disintegration as the upper support arms show as they have been painted sometime in the past. Photographs of these support arms may be located Appendix 3.

Recommendation:

LBA recommends replacing the lower fold wire support arms and diagonals with newly re-designed supports. The new design does not use tubular diagonals and all members use a more robust hot dip galvanization process.

LBA also recommends the replacement of the BaseMax™ ground enhancing system as this system has been damaged by vandalism and ground crew mishaps.

GUY LINES AND GUY LNE INSULATORS

The guy lines consist of standard galvanized EHS type wire rope. The first half of the upper guy line acts as a “top loading element” (TLE) to provide additional electrical length to the SAMWAS. A high voltage insulator with a corona ring is then inserted in the line before continuing to the anchor. Standard porcelain “Johnny Ball” insulators are placed in the lower guy lines. All insulators are in good condition and are functioning properly. The guy lines themselves are in relatively poor condition. The steel, due to harsh conditions, has begun to deteriorate causing severe rust and corrosion. Guy line photos may be located in Appendix 4.

Recommendation:

LBA recommends the replacement of all guy lines with Phillystran™ type guy line. These are synthetic products that are rust & corrosion proof. Being synthetic in nature, they do not require use of the “Johnny Ball” insulators. The replacement of the TLEs would be a combination of 100% aluminum cable attached to a section of Phillystran™. LBA believes that this should be completed within the next 24 months.

FOLD WIRE AND FOLD WIRE STAND-OFF DISCUSSION

All fold wires are intact but heavily incrusted with corrosion from the steel center strand. Due to this build-up, the fold wire no longer moves freely through the capture clamps of the fiberglass stand-offs. This lack of free movement causes undue stress in the fiberglass due to flexing. All fiberglass rods are intact and show signs of UV coating flaking. Fold wire photos may be found in Appendix 5.

Recommendation:

LBA recommends replacing the fold wires with newly available, all aluminum fold wire and replace the capture clamps with the latest, newly designed model.

It is also recommended that the fiberglass rods be spot treated with UV coating.

Newly designed end caps will be installed to increase service life.

OVERALL TOWER CONDITION DISCUSSION

The tower itself is in very good condition. Minor rust is visible at the joints and joint hardware. A fair amount of surface rust has accumulated at the top of the tower due to the deterioration of the upper support arm diagonals. The fold wire stand-off mounting brackets show light rust. Guy line attachment points are in excellent condition, some with slight surface rust due to rusting thimbles.

As this tower is not lighted, there are no electrical circuits to be concerned with.

Tower photos may be located in Appendix 6.

Recommendation:

LBA recommends that during parts replacement areas with surface rust be wire brushed and re-coated with galvanizing paint and coatings. Any severely rusted hardware, if located, should be replaced.

OPERATION OF SAMWAS ANTENNA SYSTEM

Despite the deficiencies noted in this report and the vandalism that has occurred over the years, the SAMWAS antenna system is working quite well.

The Antenna Tuning Unit (ATU) input impedance was adjusted for 50 j0Ω after installation and measured 49 j2.5Ω during this inspection. The interior of the ATU is clean and neat. Several component mounting insulators have broken due to earthquake activity. The 4” copper strap connecting the ATU to the antenna ground radial system was stolen and replaced with gathered materials.

The ATU ground attachment point is missing hardware. The NAVTEX transmitter was tested at 1.5 KW and displayed no reflected power. Photos of the ATU may be found in Appendix 7.

Recommendations:

Replace ATU component mounting insulators. Replace 4” copper strap and install new attachment hardware. Replace the SAMWAS feed ring with all aluminum wire. After repairs, tune and test the ATU, and perform an antenna impedance sweep +/- 30 KHz of the operating frequency.

REPAIR KIT QUOTE

A quote for the repair parts will be furnished under separate cover.

January 6th, 2017

Michael W. Hayden NCE CPBE AMD CBNT Vice President, Lawrence Behr Associates

Appendix 1.1 Site Area Satellite Photo

Appendix 1.2 SAMWAS Photo

Appendix 1.3 Site ID Sign Photo

Appendix 2.1 Upper Support Arm Diagonal Photo

Disintegrated Diagonal Support

Appendix 2.2 Upper Support Arm with Diagonal Photo

Support Arm with Intact Diagonal

Appendix 2.3 Upper Support Arm with Diagonal Photo

Upper Support Arm with Diagonal

Appendix 2.4 Upper Support Arms Photo

Upper Support Arms

Appendix 3.1 Lower Support Arms With Diagonals

Appendix 3.2 Lower Support Arm Diagonal

Lower Support Arm Diagonal

Appendix 3.3 Lower Support Arms

Lower Support Arms (elevated view)

Appendix 4.1 Guy Line Photos

Moderate Rust on Thimbles & Pad Eyes

Appendix 4.2 Guy Line Photos

Guy Line Rust between Insulator Pre-Forms

Appendix 4.3 Guy Line Photos

Guy Line Rust between Insulator Pre-Forms

Appendix 4.4 Guy Line Photos

Rusted Guy Line at TLE Insulator

Appendix 5.1 Fold Wire Photos

Fold Wire with Corrosion Build-Up

Appendix 5.2 Fold Wire Photos

Corroded Fold Wire with Capture Clamp

Appendix 5.3 Fold Wire Photos

Corroded Fold Wire with Capture Clamp

Appendix 5.4 Fold Wire Photos

Flaking Of Stand-Off UV Coating

Appendix 6.1 Tower Photos

Leg Joint Showing Slight Surface Rust

Appendix 6.2 Tower Photos

Fold Wire Stand-Off Mounts Showing Slight Rust

Appendix 6.3 Tower Photos

Moderate Rust on Thimble and Pad Eye

Appendix 6.4 Tower Photos

Tower Joints showing Moderate to Severe Rust

Appendix 7.1 ATU Photos

SAMWAS ATU

Appendix 7.2 ATU Photos

SAMWAS ATU (interior)

Appendix 7.3 ATU Photos

Broken Component Mount Insulators