234 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 



Mr. Kuss the need for and possibility of making repairs to the diagonal braces as 

 well as revising the wire rope bracing system to take care of this. He felt that 

 a complete picture of conditions was necessary before a decision could be made. 



8 :45 a.m. : Called Dick Tower at home to let him know that I had talked to 

 Mr. Rau and Mr. Kuss. We discussed the practicality depending on what the 

 designers decided, of what might be done to repair the brace such as a collar 

 of some sort, replacing it entirely, or altering the wire rope bracing somehow. 



9 :00 a.m. : Contacted V. Yavorosky on the tower and he confirmed the broken 

 brace and cracks in the X-bracing as given to me previously. I then asked hiui to 

 repair all cracks in the above-water bracing as soon as possible and to have the 

 divers make a further inspection as soon as possible to determine if there wa.<! 

 other damage. He replied that he would do this but didn't think that the divers 

 could get in the water that day. I asked V. Yavorosky how the tower was acting 

 and he said it seemed fairly steady. I asked him when he thought the break 

 had occurred and he said he thought within the last month. 



9 :35 a.m. : Talked to Henry Schutz at home in Teaneck, N.J., to advise him 

 of the information that had been given to me. We discussed the possibility and 

 practicality of repairing the broken diagonal at this time in the event that 

 M.P.M. & R. felt it necessary to do so. He thought that some sort of a collar 

 could be put on at — 125. We talked of the time it would take to do this type 

 work at the site at that depth. Henry felt that it would be a long job at this 

 time of year since diving time at that depth was quite limited and diving weather 

 poor. Also, a diver required deconipression time on the way up and if the wind 

 and waves increased suddenly it could be dangerous getting him out of the 

 water. We also discussed the possibility of doing the work if the designers low- 

 ered the bottom connection of the wire rope. Henry did not feel it practical to 

 work productively at depths over 130 feet approximately. It also was not known 

 how the leg could be filled below — 146 if it was necessary to do so. 



10 :20 a.m. : Called Mr. Kilss of M.P.M. & R. at home. Advised him that I had 

 contacted the tower and that the information I had given him originally was 

 what we knew at the time. I ask him what we should do now — whether we 

 should stop or continue or if it was necessary for the wire rope bracing to be 

 redesigned, put at a lower elevation, or something else done to make allowance 

 for the broken diagonal at —125. Mr. Kuss said that he had been doing some 

 thinking about this since I had called him earlier and that the situation was 

 probably not what he had first thought and that we should try to install the wire 

 rope bracing as designed as quickly as possible. I said that this was not an 

 operation that would take a week or two, but that we would certainly try, as we 

 had been, to do it as quickly as possible. I asked him if we should bring the 

 fill materials out to the tower as we had planned. He said that he thought we 

 should go ahead with this and all work. He pointed out that if the horizontal 

 brace at — 125 was not broken that he thought the wire rope bracing system 

 would be effective since he thought the legs would be quite stiff from — 185 to 

 — 125 even without the diagonal brace. Mr. Kuss asked when the vertical pipe 

 struts would be ready, and I said that the first one would be ready on the next 

 weekend and the second one approximately 4 days later for transportation to 

 the tower — weather i)ermitting towing and installation. I said that we would 

 inspect underwater as soon as possible to try to determine if there was further 

 damage and that I would let him know as soon as we knew anything. I said that 

 Steers — and I knew that the Air Force would too — would like to know what this 

 broken diagonal meant with reference to the structural capacity of the tower. 



I asked that he look into this and let us know as soon as possible. 



10 :43 a.m. : Informed Henry Schutz of my last conversation with Mr. Kuss. 



10 :51 a.m. : Told Dick Tower of my latest conversation with Mr. Kuss. 



11 :30 a.m. (approximate) : CWO Hardy of 4604th SUPRON at Otis called and 

 asked if we had the information about the broken diagonal at — 125 and if we 

 still wanted the AKL-17 boat at our Jersey City yard the first part of the week 

 to load the fill materials. I told him of my conversation with Mr. Kuss and 

 that, with Air Force approval, we would follow Mr. Kuss' suggestion and con- 

 tinue as planned and at the same time make an underwater inspection to try to 

 determine if there was further damage. He said that this procedure seemed to 

 make sense and that the boat would be at our yard the first part of the week 

 with the exact time still to be set. 



1 :30 p.m. : Talked with Mr. Rau of my latest conversation with Mr. Kuss and 

 CWO Hardy. 



