STANDARDS

Site geotechnical analysis

Soil boring Provide the tower designer with the information
needed to design the tower foundations.
Electrical resistivity Ground resistivity characteristics can be
determined from the soil boring samples and help
pre-determine certain grounding system design
requirements
Corrosion Ground corrosion characteristics are determined ANSI/EIA/TIA 222-E-1991
from the soil boring samples and help
predetermine certain grounding system design
requirements such as the materials used for
grounding and bonding and foundation design
Communications tower requirements
Wind Loading Wind loading is an extremely important design ANSI/EIA/TIA 222-E-1991 and ASCE 7-
consideration, having considerable cost impact, 95
and should be determined for both the short-term
and long-term needs of the applicant.
Antenna loading Antenna loading affects the total wind loading and
initial design considerations of any tower. Antenna
loading is a function of surface area and can
usually be found in the antenna manufacturer’s
specifications.
Tower lighting Obstruction light, defined as light indicating the
presence of an object which is dangerous to an
aircraft in flight. Tower lighting is often a
requirement. Unless a local law or ordinance
requires obstruction lighting, obstruction lighting
should be provided only if the FAA requires it. The
continuous red light is called an obstruction light.
The flashing red light is called a beacon. Typically,
as a tower’s height increases, FAA rules will require
both obstruction lights and beacons at specified
height intervals to assist pilots in determining
approximate tower height in low-light conditions.
Obstruction painting Tower obstruction painting is required by the FAA,
along with tower lights, when a tower is deemed a
specific hazard to aircraft navigation. Obstruction
marking is very consistent and uses only two
colors, international orange and white. Tower
paint quality must be maintained to FAA and FCC
standards; therefore, the tower requires repainting
throughout its life.
Communications shelter requirements
Size Equipment shelters are commonly included with
the construction of microwave towers. Each tower
site should be considered unique, and each shelter
should provide both adequate internal vertical
clearance and floor space for the initial equipment
design, as well as additional space for expected
 growth for the life of the system (10Ð30 years).
Construction The construction materials of the equipment
shelter should be adequate to last the life of the
system. Also, special construction specifications for
shelters planned for remote areas, or in areas of
high risk may have additional design specifications
(e.g., bullet-resistant construction and special
security fencing). Shelters that must be flown into
a mountaintop site should also include
extraordinary structural strength. Other
requirements for site-specific needs can only be
defined on a site-by-site basis. It should be noted
that shelter design also affects shelter foundation
design, which in turn affects cost.
Wind loading Specifications for building wind loading may also typically ANSI/EIA/TIA 222-E-1991 or
be an issue, especially in some areas where ASCE 7-95
building codes specify wind loading. Building wind
loading specifications should be based on the
same wind loading requirements used for the
microwave tower.
Permitting In some locations, the local jurisdiction may also
require a special building permit, even when the
equipment building is prefabricated and meets a
state standard. Each site-specific case can be a
unique permitting task. Therefore, each should be
researched during the design stage to avoid delays
and additional costs that would occur in the event
that a site permit was disapproved after plans
were finalized, or a construction contract was
signed that stipulated an unacceptable site.
Grounding Each building should include specifications for
grounding, bonding, and lightning protection.
Each site should have a minimum amount of
grounding and, where there is a high incidence of
thunderstorms and especially lightning
occurrences, the minimum should be increased, as
required, to provide adequate protection. Building
grounding and bonding along with lightning
protection should be considered mandatory
requirements of any microwave site installation.
Insulation Building insulation should be considered in
accordance with each site location and the
operating temperature specifications of the
equipment housed in the building. Typically, both
heating and air conditioning is included in each
building. Building insulation usually reduces the
recurring energy cost associated with maintaining
a constant building temperature and, therefore,
should be part of a system planning cost analysis.
Heating, ventilation, System design should include the heating,
and air conditioning ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC)
requirements for each site building. Heat
 generated by the enclosed equipment should be
offset by building air-conditioning. In cold climates,
ambient low temperatures in winter tend to cool
the internal building temperature below
acceptable levels. Building heating should increase
internal temperatures to at least the minimum
design specified level.
Fire suppression Fire suppression systems can provide a
systems considerable cost savings in the event of a fire at
an unmanned site, as well as provide a safer
environment at a manned site. In addition,
potential insurance savings should also be
considered against the cost of the fire suppression
system.
Power and emergency power requirements
Emergency generator Emergency generator design requirements should
requirements include existing equipment power needs, future
growth equipment power needs, and HVAC power
requirements. In addition, a power margin of
safety should be added to the generator size to
accommodate the air-conditioning start-up
current. Uninterruptible power system (UPS) units
require special generator sizing, and their use
should be considered during the system design
phase. Emergency power can also be provided by
portable or mobile generators that can be
transported from site to site on an as-needed
basis. This strategy may significantly reduce initial
emergency power equipment procurement costs,
but could fail to provide an adequate number of
emergency generator systems in the event of
multiple site outages (e.g., wide area blackout or
storm damage).
Fuel requirements Power generators can be fueled by gasoline, diesel,
liquefied petroleum (LP) gas, or natural gas. Fuel
requirements for the emergency generator should
be decided upon during the design phase to
ensure that all costs and site-specific needs are
considered.
Battery requirements If batteries are selected as the emergency power
source, adequate battery power (ampere hours)
and charging capacity should be specified in the
design phase.
Surge and lightning protection
Transmission lines Transmission lines are vehicles for lightning
transients; therefore, each transmission line should
be installed such that the path to ground is
tolerant to lightning currents, and the path into the
microwave equipment is intolerant (commonly
referred to as a high-impedance path).
Power lines Public service power is a significant source of
lightning transient damage to microwave sites. All
 power drops should include adequate grounding in
accordance with the National Electrical Code¨
(NEC¨) (NFPA 70-1996). Additional protection
should be considered by the lightning protection
engineer for both the electrical power entrance
panel at the circuit breakers, and at the power
outlets where secondary protection may be
needed.
Site grounding requirements
Shelter Shelter grounding is usually required by the NEC required by the NEC
and is required for lightning protection. Single-
path-to-ground engineering and single-point
grounding are functional indicators of applied
lightning protection engineering. Shelter ground
systems should include internal perimeter ground
systems, and a transient protector barrier plate
that facilitates grounding of all the incoming
transmission and communications lines by using
the shortest length/impedance ground-path
geometry possible.
Tower grounding is always important. The surface
area and geometry design of the tower ground
system is a function of location (thunderstorm
days/lightning occurrences, e.g., risk), ground
resistivity, and the sensitivity of the associated
system electronics requiring protection. Ground
rods, ground radial systems, ground mat systems,
and modified Ufer grounds in the concrete tower
foundations are all indications of applied lightning
protection engineering.
Power drop(s) Power drops should be bonded and grounded in
accordance with the NEC. However, additional
bonding, grounding, and transient surge protectors
may be required to prevent lightning damage.
Telco drop(s) Telco drops are common sources of lightning
discharge transients that can cause many hours of
downtime and unscheduled maintenance costs.
Bonding and grounding geometry and transient
protectors should be installed using very short lead
lengths and should be located at the same
entrance point as the transmission lines and power
service. For optimal results, transient protectors
should be installed on the same barrier plate along
with the power transient protectors and the
transmission line protectors.