Field Testing and Long-Term Monitoring of Selected High-Mast Lighting Towers

In 2013, WYDOT Projects B139025 and B133026 installed a combined 21 high-mast light towers (HMLT) in District 1 and District 3. The HMLTs were fabricated by Valmont Industries according to WYDOT Standard Plan and were installed by Modern Electric of Casper, WY. In May 2016, after only three years of service, inspectors discovered fatigue cracks on two HMLTs located at the Wagonhound Rest Area of of I-80 near Exit 267. One of the HMLTs was missing a luminaire. Further inspection revealed that one more HMLT (also located at the Wagonhound Rest Area) had significant fatigue damage too. Weather data collected by a nearby weather station was reviewed by WYDOT officials showing high winds, rain and freezing temperatures. The cause of the fatigue cracking cannot be determined at this time. Monitoring has been on-going at the selected locations for several months. Based on review of the data, one, and possibly two significant events have been observed at the Dwyer Junction site. The first occurred in April 2018, with very high stress ranges being observed. The ice sensor indicated the presence of ice during the event. The second event, in October of 2019 at the same location also occurred during a period when the sensors indicated icing on the pole. The measured stress ranges were not as high as the April 2018 event, but were still significant. To increase the likelihood of recording additional an events to better characterize the conditions under which such events are produced, it is proposed to extend the monitoring for an additional 18 months beyond the end date of March 2020. This proposal summarizes this work.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $68553
• Contract Numbers:

  RS07220

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Wyoming Department of Transportation

  5300 Bishop Boulevard
  Cheyenne, WY  United States  82009-3340
• Managing Organizations:

  University of Wyoming, Laramie

  1000 E University Avenue, Department 3295
  Laramie, WY  United States  82071
• Project Managers:

  Ahmed, Mohamed

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Wyoming, Laramie

  1000 E University Avenue, Department 3295
  Laramie, WY  United States  82071
• Principal Investigators:

  Ahmed, Mohamed

• Start Date: 20200729
• Expected Completion Date: 20221029
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• Source Data: file:///C:/falcon_local/Proposals/2020/RS07220%20HMLT%20Phase%202.pdf

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Failure; Fatigue cracking; Field tests; High mast lighting; Monitoring
• Identifier Terms: Wyoming Department of Transportation
• Geographic Terms: Wyoming
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01781450
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Wyoming Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: RS07220
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 8 2021 12:26PM