270 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 



Mr. Kendall. Was a complete stress reanalysis made before mak- 

 ing that recommendation ? 



Mr. Kuss. Oh, yes, sir. 



Mr. Kendall. Do you have a copy of that ? 



Mr, Kuss. The stress analysis is in the report. 



Mr. Kendall. That is all right, if it is in the report. 



Mr. Kuss. Here is a sheet showing the stresses before and after 

 the installation. 



Mr. Kendall. Weren't the braces and the pin connections at the 

 minus 25-foot and minus 75-foot level in bad shape at that time ? 



Mr. Kuss. They looked to be, sir. 



Mr. Kendall. Well, wasn't it considered necessary to effect a re- 

 pair of those braces ? 



Mr. Kuss. Yes, sir, if possible. 



Mr. Kendall. Was it done ? 



Mr. Kuss. No, sir. I would like to give you a little history of this, 

 right liere. 



Mr. Kendall. Yes, sir, go right ahead. 



Mr. Kuss. At our meetings with tlie Air Force, when it was de- 

 cided to put the above-water bracing on, we all agreed that something 

 would have to be done to the pins ultimately, but the way the tower 

 stood, it would have been impossible or very dangerous to remove the 

 pins, as, for instance, to put in larger ones. We felt if we could se- 

 cure the tower with the above- water bracing, then, when the weather 

 was suitable, we could go after the pins and do sometliing to them. 



difficulty in examining pins 



Now, along those lines, wlien the contractor was erecting the above- 

 water bracing, it was provided in his contract tliat he examine those 

 pins, reexamine them well — that is, better than they had been ex- 

 amined before. That meant taking off the washers at the ends of the 

 pins so that you could actually see the relationship of the hole to the 

 pin. Tliat was part of the contract he had. We had no information 

 on the true conclition of the pins, because the previous divers had al- 

 ways had to contend Avith the fact that there was a plate which covered 

 the hole. So although we knew the pins were loose, we did not know 

 the exact conditions. We couldn't combat it until 



Mr. Kendall. You knew the braces were ineffective, didn't you, 

 Mr. Kuss? 



Mr. Kuss. They were not ineffective. 



Mr. Kendall. Well, they were not working properly. 



Mr. Kuss. Yes, they were not working properly. 



Mr. Kendall. I take it you do not agree with the statements that 

 have been made in the record that the installation of this above-water 

 X-bracing, without correction of the difficulties in the undersea brac- 

 ings, caused the tower to act like a huge hinge ? 



Mr. Kuss. No, sir, I don't understand that. 



Mr. Kendall. You don't understand it or you don't agree with it, 

 which, or both ? 



iNIr. Kuss, I don't agree with it. 



Mr. Kendall. How long would it take to make a stress reanalysis 

 of this tower ? I 



