ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some useful and practical information regarding the design, construction and ongoing maintenance for a broadcast tower. A self-supporting tower is a freestanding structure that requires less land than a guyed tower and can accommodate a variety of antennas. Communication towers are a complex feat of structural engineering that must take into account everything from soil and environmental conditions, steel types, location and land area to proposed and future antenna loading. A guyed tower is composed of a relatively slender mast supported by steel cables at the necessary levels. This composition makes the guyed towers versatile and will accommodate a variety of applications. Many environmental factors contribute to the design of a tower structure. In wireless technologies, which use higher-frequency bands to transmit data, the wavelengths are considerably shorter than in a television or radio broadcast environment.
