There are three main ways to erect an 'AN Series' Self supporting Tower. Below, we'll discuss each of them briefly.

Crane - This is by far the most preferred way of erecting a tower of this size, as 100' mobile cranes are readily available at a reasonable cost. Each of the 'AN Series' Towers has had it's section joints specially engineered to be able to be lifted into place from a horizontal position, with the pulling point being at the tower's top. We have included heavy 7" x 3/16" splice plates on both sides of each leg joint (12 plates per section) coupled with 8 bolts per leg connection (24 bolts per section) forming extremely strong section joints along the tower. Done in this way, a tower may be lifted onto it's base sub-section which has previously been set in concrete, and bolted in place. Total crane operating time is often under 1 hour for this procedure if the tower is bolted together and ready to be lifted.

Gin Pole - We do also have available Gin Poles for erection purposes for all towers. Because of the weight of the lower tower sections (nearly 300 pounds for section 1) this method requires a Gin Pole of higher strength than lighter duty models sold by other manufacturers for other towers. Previous experience with using a Gin Pole should be gained before attempting this operation with such heavy tower sections, as in the 'AN Series' sections 1 through 4.

Piece by Piece - This is by far the most time consuming way to erect a tower, however it is an option for the owner who doesn't have room for a crane, and who has no Gin Pole. This method involves having your tower in pieces with all structural members unbolted, and then building the tower in the air as it is climbed, one leg at a time, and one diagonal brace at a time. This method is about as fun as washing dishes, but the only tool that is needed is an adjustable wrench used for the 2 different bolt sizes that come with all 'AN Series' Towers.