COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 9 



35 feet. Under pressure of the elements, particularly Hurricane 

 Donna and the storms that followed in the winter of 1960-61, and 

 despite all-out efforts to effect repairs, the tower fell into the sea on 

 January 15, 1961, during a storm of gale proportions. 



Senator Stennis. All right. Do you want to add anything to that, 

 Mr. Secretary, before we have questions ? 



Mr. Charyk. I do not believe so, Mr. Chairman. 



Senator Stennis. Well, your statement is very clear. Yet, there is 

 one thing I want to get fixed in my mind. The design criteria for this 

 tower was for waves how high and winds how fast ? You stated that, 

 I think, at one point. But I do not locate it now. 



DESIGN CRITERIA 



Mr. Charyk. Yes. It was to be capable of withstanding 125-mil6- 

 per-hour winds with 35-foot breaking waves. 



Senator Stennis. Well, as I have have already said, Mr. Secretary, 

 you are not going to be asked to stay here during all the hearings. 

 Before you leave, these facts that you have related show that the 

 waves were considerably larger than those for which the tower had 

 been designed. Do you want to make a statement as to why you did 

 not withdraw the tower from operation mitil the repairs could be 

 made? That is going to become a question here. Do you want to 

 pass on that now, or wait until later? I think you ought to have an 

 opportunity to cover that proposition. That is my point. 



Mr. Charyk. I think we can go into that in the course of the 

 questioning. 



Senator Stennis. All right. 



Mr. Charyk. I might simply say at this time, however, that actions 

 to leave the tower had been initiated prior to its failure ; the equip- 

 ment was in the process of being prepared for evacuation, and certain 

 cement, sand, and concrete was being poured into the legs. 



Senator Stennis. All right. If you want to go into that later, that 

 is all right. I thought you ought to have an opportunity now. 



Mr. Counsel, will you proceed now. 



Mr. Kendall. Dr. Charyk, in view of the fact that this question is 

 going to come up, will you define for the committee the method of com- 

 puting the height of a wave— just how it is measured ? 



Mr. Charyk. I would like to suggest, Mr. Kendall, that the design 

 criteria might be more appropriately discussed with the architect-engi- 

 neering people, since it was they who, in consultation with the Navy 

 and on the basis of the Woods Hole and other studies, arrived at the 

 particular design criteria that were used. The Air Force had no re- 

 sponsibility for the design criteria. 



waves measured from trough to crest 



Mr. Kendall. On what basis are you using the 35-foot wave in your 

 statement ? Is that measured from trough to crest, or from mean sea 

 level? 



Mr. Charyk. From trough to crest. 



Mr. Kendall. At what stage was Texas tower 5 eliminated from 

 the program ? 



