Hey Guys, How long does it take to actually construct a monopole tower? Verizon Wireless is building a 195-foot monopole in Rogers City soon and I was curious. I saw a video on YouTube where one was built in 4 hours! Is that the normal time it takes to construct one after the base is dug/poured in concrete? Thanks for any input!
If the foundation is ready to go already, you could have the tower physically up in a day depending on the skill of the crane operator and how tall the first lift is. We erect 100' towers in two hours routinely but we put the whole thing together on the ground prior to the crane arriving. He shows up, pulls it into the air and we bolt it down. The timeframe to have the coax and antennas hung is a whole other ball of wax but still shouldn't be more than a couple of days for an experienced crew.
The foundation hasn't been dug yet, but I have noticed some heavy machinery at the site of the new monopole. It's going to rain all week where I live, so I don't see how they would start it this week. But they have orange stakes marking the perimeter of the cell site. I would walk up to the area, but it's on private land. The network person that I talked to with Verizon said that the monopole in Rogers City is the #1 tower in the state to get put up in 2011, so I'm assuming that it should be up very shorty.
In my town, the guys had erected a Rogers Wireless monopole in about 5 Hours, mind you it wasn't that tall. A strobe light was added a week later On a totally different note, Rogers Wireless had also started a roof top site a week after the monopole. They put up three masts facing West and then three weeks later, came back to put up the other masts and antennas. This was in the winter time so I can't remember if the weather was an issue. It was odd that it took them that long to build it though.
Just as an update, zero construction has begun at the site. Quite annoyed because earlier this year the store manager who talked to the "tower crew" for my area stated that it would be finished by August. Doubtful.
Can a monopole be dug/poured/built in the winter with some snow on the ground? Also T1 lines dug/ran and power. The ground isn't frozen at all. It might have about 8 inches of snow on it after this weekend, but that's it.
Here a company built one. They put big concrete blocks to the ground and lift the metal tower on it. In some hours tower was up. Then they installed the equipment and went. It was complete in about half day. But took a month to be activated.
Absolutely. Although it sucks to deal with that much snow on the ground and trying to keep things dry. Assuming they are doing a caisson type foundation they can drill the hole and drop the cage (rebar) in a day and usually come back the next to pour the concrete. Give it time to cure (which in colder climates takes longer. As someone else stated, if you can't stack a monopole in a day you should find a new line of work. Depending on the complexity, the antennas and line can be installed in a day. The real timeline issues are usually getting the utilities lit (network/phone, and power) and having a tech commission the radios to get it online. A site will often sit for weeks before this all happens. It depends on the urgency of the schedule and how well the construction PM manages the timeline for all of the elements.