15-09: Cooling Tower Support Framing Systems: Distress and Repair

Other than specifying the loads and support points for the cooling towers, the cooling tower manufacturer has very limited involvement in the design of support framing for commercial type cooling towers. Over a period of time, the cooling towers themselves generally undergo the required maintenance, but their support framing is often neglected. As such, extensive deterioration and distress has been observed in several cooling tower support structures. The paper describes some of the problems caused by such neglect and the methods used to restore the integrity of such framing. Some case histories are also discussed.