North American Windpower: California Enacts New Met-Tower Rules

by NAW Staff on Wednesday 29 August 2012

California Gov. Edmund Brown has signed into law legislation that requires meteorological towers to be marked in specific ways.

Under the new law, met towers between 50 and 200 feet tall must be marked as follows:

The full length of the met tower shall be painted with seven equal, alternating bands of aviation orange and white, beginning with orange at the top of the tower and ending with orange at the bottom of the marked portion of the tower;
Two marker balls shall be attached to and evenly spaced on each of the outside guy wires;
The area surrounding each point where a guy wire is anchored to the ground shall have a contrasting appearance with any surrounding vegetation; if the adjacent land is grazed, the area surrounding the anchor point (i.e., an area not less than 64 square feet whose outer boundary is at least four feet from the anchor point) shall be fenced.
One or more seven-foot safety sleeves shall be placed at each anchor point and shall extend from the anchor point along each guy wire attached to the anchor point; and
A red flashing obstruction light shall be affixed to the highest point on the tower and operate continuously, or at a minimum, when the northern sky illuminance reaching a vertical surface falls below 35 foot-candles.

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