The original tower was constructed in 1959 without any radome or protection of the antennas and tower. There was early severe damage to the above due to ice formation in the extremely challenging conditions. Sometime later a form of heating was provided as protection for the antennas. This only worked if the heating was switched on before ice had formed. It also consumed 85 kW of power which made it expensive to operate. Sometime later as part of the upgrade of the facilities for FM broadcasting and SBS an unlovely fiberglass radome was added to provide protection against the elements. The wind reaction against the changed dynamic conditions due to the radome posed serious problems for the tower resulting in very high annual maintenance.
The new tower was in the form of a reinforced concrete tubular structure with a steel antenna support structure at the top accommodating four separate high-powered transmitting antennas with a fibreglass radome protecting the antenna structure. The concrete portion of the tower is 13 metres diameter at the base and held down by 18 rock anchors comprising steel cables grouted into bored holes 15 metres deep and post tensioned.
The tower is protected dynamically by two levels of “sloshing dampers” which are vaned toroidal structures partly filled with glycol anti-freeze.
Les Rodgers