There was some exciting activity on the Sawtooth Mountain ridge overlooking Grand Marais on July 23-24 as an old communications tower was dismantled and a new tower erected by workers with Vertical Limits. This worker, tethered for safety, guides the top of the 350-foot tower into place.
The Sawtooth Mountain ridge overlooking Grand Marais was the scene of some daring activity on July 23-24, 2014 as workers with Vertical Limits constructed a new 350-foot communication tower and removed an old tower of the same height. Workers scaled the towers to guide the top pieces into place.
Vertical Limits also dismantled and hauled away the old tower, said WTIP radio’s engineer Jeff Nemitz. He said there was some lead paint on the old tower, so the job of taking it apart had to be handled by a company specializing in dealing with lead abatement.
According to County Radio Technician Rowan Watkins, there are no out-of-pocket expenses for Cook County for the installation of the new tower or the removal of the old. Verizon Wireless rents the tower space from the county. The county agreed to a rent abatement as the project is being completed. Once the cost of the tower installation has been covered by the rent abatement, the county will once again collect rent from Verizon.
The Verizon equipment is now in place on the new tower. Verizon smart phone customers are now receiving 4G service. However, Verizon needs to move its equipment to the top of the tower, up another 60 feet. Watkins said that should happen sometime in the next few weeks.
There were some citizen concerns on the first night after the tower was erected. Residents below were disturbed by the bright, white, strobe light. WTIP’s Nemitz said that was quickly rectified.
Nemitz explained that during the day towers must have white strobe lights; at night the lights must flash red. Nemitz said the tower has three lights—two in the middle; one at the top. The daytime beacon for the middle light was not changing from the daytime mode to night. The tower had a photo diode that should have sensed the change from day to night, but didn’t. Nemitz said the problem was resolved by putting a little hood over the sensor.
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