30 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 
(6) Evaluate any structural deficiencies that may be found; 
and 
(c) Make recommendations as to repairs or modifications to be 
made but the fee of $2,500 would not include the design or prep- 
aration of specifications for any new work required. 
When the extent of the damage to the tower caused by Donna was 
reported to him on or about November 12, 1960, General Elder, com- 
mander of the Boston Air Defense Sector, became very much con- 
cerned for the reason that, throughout all the discussions over the 
tower’s troubles, no one had undertaken to advise him of the actual 
remaining strength of the tower. On November 16, 1960, General 
Elder called Mr. Kuss by telephone, as the person probably best quali- 
fied to advise him as to the tower’s remaining strength. Mr. Kuss 
would not do so. Whereupon General Elder ordered the evacuation 
of personnel from the tower to the maximum extent possible, consistent 
with maintaining Air Force custody of expensive and classified equip- 
ment and providing the necessary support to the construction workers. 
This was determined to be 14 military personnel, an insufficient number 
to operate the radar equipment as well, so General Elder ordered an 
operational standdown of the radar equipment. 
General Elder also established a continuing weather watch with 
orders to notify him of any weather forecasts predicting wind veloci- 
ties of 50 knots or more in the tower No. 4 area. 
Several meetings and discussions took place between the design 
engineers, the contractor, and representatives of the Air Force at 
which the damage was reviewed and the method of repair established 
with an estimated completion date of April 1, 1961. 
The permanent fix decided on at those meetings consisted of the 
installation of three strands of crossed cable bracings on the A—B 
side from the —125-foot level to the —25-foot level to compensate for 
and virtually be in substitution of the upper two tiers or panels of K 
braces, it being assumed that the lowest tier of bracing still possessed 
structural integrity. It was also decided to repair, through installa- 
tion of a sleeve, the attachment of the two diagonals on the horizontal 
brace at the —75-foot level and this was completed on January 1, 1961, 
after much difficulty from winds and waves. To strengthen the legs 
at the lower level where the cable bracing was to be attached, concrete 
would be poured in, the materials for which to be delivered to the 
tower by the supply ship, 442-17, a Military Sea Transportation 
Service vessel engaged solely in supplying the towers under lease to 
the Air Force. 
On December 12, 1960, the tower was subjected to another severe 
storm with high seas and winds of 87 knots. Then, on January 7, 
1961, the divers discovered that the B diagonal in the lowest panel of 
bracing was broken. 
A meeting was held in Steers’ office in New York City on January 12, 
1961, the initial purpose of which was to negotiate costs for repair 
of the tower. 
Mr. Rau said that the cost analysis would have to be revised because 
of additional work required to fix the B diagonal in the lowest panel. 
He said that the broken diagonal was a very grave problem and that 
its loss would reduce the overall structural integrity of the tower to 
approximately 55 percent of its original design criteria even after the 
