1st Croatian Conference on Earthquake Engineering 1CroCEE 2021

In this paper, the procedure applied in the design of a 155 meter high telecommunication tower that is currently being built on Vodno mountain, in the immediate vicinity of Skopje, is discussed. The complex architectonic shape of the tower, the large number of users of the space with their own specific requirements and the expected flexibility of the structure made the design engineers define an objective and non-standard procedure of design and analysis of this complex structure. The design procedure defined by the design engineers was submitted to the Investor of the structure and it consisted from:
• Research works on the location involving geological and geotechnical investigations, geophysical surveys, definition of seismic design parameters, research for definition of wind effects and meteorological investigations;
• Definition of the technological requirements of users of the space with data on operational criteria, sensitivity to vibrations and technological loads;
• Definition of a modelling procedure, analysis and criteria of stability and serviceability. During analytical modelling, the complex structure was divided into substructures that were individually analysed and then integrated into a model consisting of a central reinforced concrete core, four independent working platforms covering an area of 200 m2 each, an antenna unit, a truss placed on the top of the concrete core with a height of 28 m, four independent decorative elements (rafters) wrapped in a porous mesh and a foundation structure.
• An experimental programme consisting of tower model testing in an aerodynamic tunnel for definition of all possible wind effects, seismic shaking table testing of the tower model, quasi-static tests of vital joints and a fragment of the main circular truss of the platforms and quasi-static testing of the façade of the decorative elements.
The application of the above stated in the design of the structure is briefly presented in this paper.