Arrow Head Connection Failure
Marulan, NSW
SUMMARY
- Use of Arrow Head Member Connections resulted in partial tower failure.
- Axicom identified the cause and conducted immediate rectification work, allowing the site to be re-commissioned, while mitigating potential for future complications.
- Axicom’s extensive suite of Portfolio Health Services provided the platform for the entire scope of works to be conducted.
Failure
Following a tower failure at Marulan, a carrier owned site, the customer asked Axicom to conduct a technical review.
Challenge
The Marulan site failure was due to inadequate design, as member connections on the tower had become fatigued.
The design of the Arrow Head Connection hadn’t taken into account the torque on the
tower leg, generated by both environmental factors and equipment deployments, leading to the collapse of the towers upper section.
Solution
Axicom deployed a number of Portfolio Health Services, identifying the issue as the Arrow Head Connections inability to cope with the torque levels being induced onto the tower leg. This led to the fatigue and ultimately, failure of member connections throughout the tower.
To rectify this, Axicom undertook extensive remediation works, implementing a stronger and significantly more reliable slotted end plate connection.
The same issue was identified on over 100 other sites.
RESULTS
Through Axicom’s Portfolio Health Services, the issues surrounding the Arrow Head Connections on the Marulan site were identified and immediately rectified, allowing the site to be re-commissioned while mitigating the potential for future complications.