COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 151 



But as I indicated, I believe Captain "White, who was the District 

 Public Works Officer in Boston, and to whom any inquiries of that 

 nature would have been directed, is the man to answer this question. 



Senator Saltonstall. Just one more question. 



Is there anything in the Navy records, Admiral, that you have gone 

 over that would indicate any formality to these discussions? 



Admiral Church. None that I have seen, sir, and I believe there 

 are none. 



Senator Saltonstall. And nothing related? 



Admiral Church. No, sir. 



Senator Saltonstall. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Senator Stennis. Thank you, Senator, very much. 



Commander, there is no use for us to go over ground that has al- 

 ready been plowed. In engineering, I never did get beyond black- 

 smith shop, so I know I do not have any technical knowledge on these 

 things. But just as a practical question, now, if the pin slap and the 

 tower motion did not cause this deterioration in the connections, and 

 you have said that a while ago as much as one inch was found later, 

 if this pin slap and the tower motion did not cause that deterioration, 

 what did? 



CAUSE OF DETERIORATION IN PIN TOLERANCES 



Commander Foster. I hope that any remarks that I made was not 

 construed to mean that motion will not cause wear. But I think the 

 timing here is important. When did this deterioration take place? 

 Certainly if two objects rub agamst each other long enough, there 

 will be wear. But the word that was used when the question was first 

 addressed to me was "impact." 



I said I thought there were other factors which should be con- 

 sidered. Now, if you take a piece of sandpaper to sand a board, 

 obviously the harder you lean on it and the more often you rub it, 

 the more you are going to wear it. I believe it is within the realm of 

 possibility that one serious storm would cause as much wear on a given 

 pin there in that tower as perhaps a year of milder weather. This is 

 not a result of computations or anything, but merely reading over the 

 record of the inspections made and the amount of play that was found 

 in each one. 



Senator Stennis. Well, the deterioration which was found in these 

 connections, I believe had resulted in a tolerance as high as an inch 

 at one time. Really that shocked me, because I know that gives a lot 

 of leeway. Was this caused by this continual motion which was more 

 intense at some times than others ? That is what caused the wear and 

 tear on the tower, is it not ? 



Commander Foster. Sir, I never found an inch deflection. 



Senator Stennis. I thought you used an inch a while ago. 



Commander Foster. No, sir. 



Senator Stennis. Have you not seen the reports indicating that it 

 was as much as an inch in places ? 



Commander Foster. I believe I have scanned them, Mr. Chair- 

 man. I have not really studied them. 



Senator Stennis. Have you not seen in those reports that the 

 divers inspections found tolerances of as much as an inch ? 



Commander Foster. This was in the spring of 1960, I believe, sir. 



