Self Supporting Tower

Self-supporting towers are supported on ground or on building and they act as cantilever trusses in carrying the wind and seismic loads. Though the weight of these towers is more they require less base area and are suitable in many situations. Hence most of the Telecom Cell Towers are self-supporting towers.

Steel towers can be constructed in number of ways but most efficient use of material is achieved by using open steel lattice. The typical arrangement for microwave tower is shown in the figure. The use of an open lattice avoids presenting the full width of structure to the wind but enables the construction of extremely light in weight and stiff structures. Hence most of the Telecom Cell structures are lattice structures.

Guyed Masts

Guyed Masts provides height at a much lower material cost than self-supporting towers due to the efficient use of high strength steel in the guys. Guyed masts are normally guyed in three directions over an anchor radius of typically 2/3 of the tower height and have a triangular lattice section for the central mast. Tubular masts are also used, especially where icing is very heavy and lattice sections would ice up fully.

These towers are much lighter than self-supporting type but require a large free space to anchor guy wires. Whenever large open space is available, guyed towers are provided. There are other restrictions to mount dish antennae on these towers and require large anchor blocks to hold the ropes.