[BC] Reason for WSKY Tower Collapse

[r j carpenter]

This story from the main Norfolk newspaper claims to have the reason for 
the WSKY-TV tower collapse. The tower was only 3/4 of final height when 
an anchor pulled....they say.... Oops.  This must be very mushy earth on 
the edge of the Dismal Swamp.
bob c.
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Unfinished TV tower in N.C. toppled in high wind

By JEFFREY S. HAMPTON , The Virginian-Pilot
? March 6, 2007 | Last updated 9:48 PM Mar. 5

CAMDEN COUNTY -- A television tower under construction in Camden County 
toppled during Friday's strong winds because concrete anchors were not 
large enough, according to the station's president.

"Things that were supposed to stay in place didn't," said Glenn 
Holterhaus, president of Sky Television, parent company of WSKY-TV 
Channel 4.

Standing 760 feet tall, the unfinished tower toppled and crushed a new 
transmitter building Friday morning after winds suddenly gusted to about 
40 mph. Concrete anchors in the ground intended to stabilize the tower 
were not large enough and gave way, he said.

The two-year long project was three weeks from completion. Located about 
one mile south of the Virginia line, the tower was to reach up to 1,036 
feet and replace an analog signal tower in Powells Point with a stronger 
digital signal, Holterhaus said.

Based in Chesapeake, WSKY broadcasts to South Hampton Roads and 
northeastern North Carolina.