COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 225 



Senator Symington", Wliy did they want to do this additional 

 work ? 



Mr, Rati. Well, they said there had been, as I recall, a lot of motion 

 in the tower, and they wanted this bracing above water installed to 

 stiffen the tower. 



Senator Symington. I would like to ask a question, just as a lay- 

 man. We have heard a lot about motion. As I understand it, the 

 Empire State Building moves a couple of feet in the wind so the 

 question implies relative motion, does it not ? 



Mr. Rau. That is right, sir. 



Senator Symington. And they thought that was dangerous ? 



Mr, Rau. Well, it may have been a fact that was more mental or 

 they thought it was more mental for the boys aboard having this 

 motion all the time rather than serious to the structure itself. 



Senator Symington. Did you feel at that time it was a danger to 

 the lives of the men aboard ? 



Mr. Rau. No, sir ; I did not. 



Senator Symington. Did you ever at any time feel it until it fell? 



Mr. Rau. I felt that it was in a weakened condition in January 

 of 1961 ; yes, sir. 



Senator Syimington. And at that time what did you suggest? 



Mr. Rau. Well, if I may. Senator 



Senator Symington. Let me rephrase my question to ask it this 

 way; what happened between June 1960 and January 1961 to make 

 you feel that there was danger in this setup ? 



Mr. Rau. Well, we received this contract, if I may start from 

 June ? 



Senator Symington. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Rau. We received this contract on June 3 from the Air Force 

 to, as I mentioned, to install these braces above water, to make under 

 water inspections of the pins to test and tighten collar bolts, if 

 necessary, at elevation minus 65 feet ; to test the K-brace bolts which 

 connect the main legs to the platform, magnaflux the welds connect- 

 ing the K-braces, which is a method of checking welds to see if there 

 are cracks actually in the weld which cannot be seen by naked eye. 



Then, in August, July and August, we had addendum to this con- 

 tract to do some additional miscellaneous work. 



We completed that work in the first part of August, and we re- 

 moved our men, I think it was, August 10. 



Of course. Hurricane Donna struck on September 12, and soon 

 thereafter we were contacted again to first replace the maintenance 

 scaffold which was almost completely carried away during Donna, 

 and to do some more investigating of the welds on these braces above 

 the water to see if there were any cracks in them, and also to inspect 

 the braces imderwater. 



We went out — in that contract, incidentally, there was also an 

 item called item four, which required us to inspect, do this inspecting, 

 and report our findings with pictures and all. 



CONTRACTOR ASKED TO EVALUATE TOWER's RflMAINING STRENGTH 



At the bottom of the last part of this item it required us to make 

 a report or to have our report include a statement concerning the 



