184 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4. 



below water about which you have already testified was the main 

 contributing factor to the collapse, is that right ? 



Mr. Crockett. I feel that is the case, Mr. Chairman. 



Senator Sitinnis. Frankly, I think your testimony is very signifi- 

 cant on this point, because you are the man who made these inspections 

 from time to time.^ and you are the man who made inspections after 

 this unfortunate collapse. If I miderstand you correctly, and I do not 

 mean to repeat, but sometimes that is necessary, the real basic and pri- 

 mary trouble, and cause of tliis collapse, was those defects which you 

 reported and which had been there to some degree all this time ? 



Mr. Crockett. I did not say that, sir. I do not attribute any one 

 particular thing to the collapse of the tower. In fact, I do not think 

 a man in two shoes exists who does have an opinion as to wh}'^ the tower 

 collapsed. I think the tower collapse is an act of God, and the reason 

 for this is a continually aggravated failure that there just was not 

 time enougli to make the proper repairs before adverse sea conditions 

 kept repeating themselves. 



Senator Stennis. Well, you found those conditions there — I do not 

 remember the dates now that you testified about, but I do recall that 

 the conditions which necessitated the Dardelet bolt repair had been 

 there some 2 years before the collapse. 



Mr. Crockett. That is quite so, sir. 



Senator Stennis. And when it developed that the Dardelet bolt was 

 not successful, there was an attempt to supplement that Dardelet bolt 

 repair with what you call a T-bolt mstallation ? 



Mr. Crockett. That is quite right. 



Senator Stennis. And in January 1960, 1 believe it was, you found 

 the condition was so pronounced that there was a movement in those 

 pin connections of an inch or more ; is that correct ? 



Mr. Crockett. Yes, sir, that is very correct. 



Senator Stennis. Then that condition continued to exist on through 

 until September 1960, or thereabouts, when Hurricane Donna came 

 througli, which added additional strain. Did you examine it again 

 after Hurricane Donna? 



Mr. Crockett. No, sir. 



Senator Stennis. That was September, 1960, was it not? 



Mr. Crockett. Yes, sir. 



Senator Stennis. And this condition continued to exist then, until 

 January, 1961 ? 



Mr. Crockett. That is quite right, sir. 



Senator Stennis. During all that time, was there no chance to make 

 effective repairs of these troublesome conditions that became aggra- 

 vated rather than diminished ? 



Mr. Crockett. I feel that repair by the installation of the X-brae- 

 ing was an effective attempt, that the designers had done all they 

 thought they could within the time they had to rectify the damage 

 that had been made by Hurricane Donna. 



Senator Stennis. I mean repair below the water, down where the 

 Dardelet bolts were and where the motion was. Was there time to 

 repair that, or was it just a hopeless case? 



Mr. Crockett. There was a repair instigated there. There was a 

 clamp to be installed in this particular area [indicating] to beef up 

 the weaker section. They endeavored to put some cables on the out- 



