232 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 



Mr. Eau. I don't remember the velocity of the wind. I do re- 

 member definitely though that the 15-foot waves 



Mr. IvENDALL. Did the storm which you encountered "v«hile at sea 

 exceed that criteria ? 



Mr. Rau. The storm that we encountered at the site after arriving, 

 I do not believe it did exceed the criteria ; no, sir. 



Mr. Kendall. One final question, Mr. Rau. When the loss of 

 the bracing was discovered, and you had these discussions, did not 

 you or your firm have some opinion or recommendation as to what 

 should be done as to whether or not it should be taken back to port ? 



Mr. Rau. Well, as I mentioned before, Mr. Kendall, the tower, as 

 we understood it, was something to be erected and put into the national 

 defense, the early warning radar system, and therefore such a deci- 

 sion had to be weighed as to how important it was for defense. 



Mr. Kexdall. You were not operating in a vacuum out there. 

 This was the situation that was confronting you, and you participated 

 in the discussions, and certainly you must have had and expressed an 

 opinion as to whether this was the preferable thing to do or whether 

 it was preferable to take it back to port. 



Mr, Rau. Well it is hard for me to remember now exactly how 1 

 felt. But, thinking now as I should have been thinking then, whether 

 I did or not I don't know, I would say the decision of upending it 

 and putting the braces in underwater was the decision that should 

 have been made. 



Mr. Kendall. Do you think that was a sound decision under the 

 circumstances ? 



Mr. Rau. That is right, sir. 



Mr. Kendall. Under the circumstances confronting you at that 

 time ? 



Mr. Rau. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Kendall. That is all I have, Mr. Chairman. 



Senator Stennis. Let me see if Mr. French has some questions. 



Mr. French. Yes, sir; I have. 



Senator Stennis. All right, Mr. French, you have some questions, 



agreement of design engineers to evaluate tower's remaining 



strength 



Mr. French. Under item 4 of the contract, Mr. Rau, I believe the 

 design engineers were to come up with new wind and wave criteria 

 for the tower; is that correct? 



Mr. Rau. That is correct, Mr. French, 



Mr. French. At what point in time did they agree to perform this 

 particular work? 



Mr, Rau. I contacted Mr, Carlton Proctor on either the 2d or the 

 3d of October, telling him about such an item in the specifications, 

 and asked him if he would cover it for us, and also asking for a price 

 to do the work, and on the 3d of October we actually sent him a note 

 indicating what was required. 



Within a week after that I talked to him about the work and he 

 agreed on doing the job for us, 



Mr, French, Did you ever receive any written confirmation of the 

 agreement to perform this work ? 



