“Tower Work” was the program presented at the Feb. 12 Seward Rotary Club meeting by Kevin Roby, employee of Hartmann Construction, who was introduced by his employer Rotarian Andy Hartmann, the February program chair for the Seward Rotary meetings.
“Tower work” is the term Roby uses to describe a time of employment from 1994 to 2000, when he was employed to build cell phone towers, starting the tower career at the age of 19. Roby loved the challenge, yet he is sure the job should be on the TV Show “Most Dangerous Jobs in the World” as he was very nervous at first and sort of lived in a series of ongoing nightmares, which he overcame.
His job was to assemble and build “typical vertical gin pole tower arrangement with a straight tag,” assembling the steel towers in 20-foot segments and then setting them in place. These sectional towers were assembled new, and they were often called upon to also repair existing towers. Many of the towers were over 1,000 feet high. The highest tower he personally worked on in the sky was 1,050 feet in the air.
Building cell phone towers gave Roby the opportunity to see the United States.
“When working hundreds of feet in the air, the view of the USA is beautiful,” he said.
His equipment was usually a tool belt with the needed tools and a six-foot rope. One of the dangers was when something drops from 400 feet in the air. It could do extensive damage if it hit a person. He shared some examples of things that fell from above, and he was lucky they missed his fellow employees, and they could laugh about it, but it could have been a serious injury.
He shared a diagram of the typical vertical gin pole tower arrangement and a slide of the materials he used, steel, bolts, cables and antennas. They formerly would ride the cable line to the top or climb it. But due to safety concerns and regulations, that has all changed and probably for the better, he said.
He said that every tower had at least one lightening rod and some had multiple rods, some in the middle and on top as well. The lightening rod was often the last thing to install, along with the cell tower antenna and the beacon lights. There were few antennas and sometimes hundreds.
He did say that one time, when on the tower, a jet just missed his tower.
“That was sort of scary,“ Roby said.
Sometimes he worked with a crew of six or seven and they never worked in the rain or ice, because of safety, but they did work in snow and then the jobs were at a slower pace as they were dealing with another element. The extreme weather conditions were an issue, as he addressed the heat problems too. In the summer the steel towers could get very warm, as it was hot outside to begin with and the steel piping became hot to the touch as well. He always had a great tan.
Communication while working on the towers was difficult. They did have radios, but the most effective method of communication was the use of hand signals and yelling.
Safety was a priority, but the concept of cell phones and cell towers was new, and so the rules needed to catch up with the employment risks.
Roby said there are positives and negatives about the tower work, just like any job or profession, but he was young, in good physical condition and ready to travel. He did get to visit many interesting places across the United States and sample all kinds of great food. His favorite meal was in Boston.
The number one positive of the Tower Work career was the making of lifelong friendships with his fellow employees.
One of the main outcomes of the tower career is that he does not want to work with heights anymore. Interestingly, however, he has taken on a new hobby and enjoys parachuting from airplanes. He promised, that is another program for another time.
Questions and answers followed.
