After careful surveying, the locations for the four anchors and the tower are excavated. Since the elevation of the two side anchors and the tower base elevation must be exactly the same, a form was made for the low side anchor. The form was back-filled to retain the pour.

The soil at this site was hard clay, so no below ground forming was required. The excavated hole tapered slightly on all sides, being largest at the bottom. A cage of reinforcing bar was suspended from the form to ensure it did not protrude below the concrete.

After the concrete had cured, the forms were removed and all the pads were back-filled level to the surrounding area.

Each pad measured 3 feet by 5 feet and 5 feet in depth. More depth may be required, depending on the frost level in your area.

Once the concrete has cured, the locations for the mounting brackets can be laid out. Holes for the anchor bolts are made with a hammer drill. With all the holes drilled and carefully cleaned out, the bolts are secured in place with epoxy.

Note the layout lines on the concrete pad and the dash lines which indicate the location of the rebar. Rebar and hammer drill bits don't get along. By marking the location of the rebar on the sides of the concrete forms and then onto the pads, drilling into the rebar is prevented.

With the hinge base in place, the tower sections are bolted together. The use of a backhoe / loader easily moves the 200+ pound sections. Each section is laid on timbers to keep the tower straight during assembly.

When all the tower sections are assembled, the gin pole can be raised and rigged. Again, a backhoe combined with a winch makes this task easy and straightforward.

The tower guy cables are now rigged and the tower is ready for the initial raising before the turbine is installed.

After the tower has been raised, it is trued for vertical with a transit and the cables are adjusted to the correct tension.