User's Manual

Tropos 5210 Wi-Fi Cell Installation Guide 55
F Wind Loading Considerations
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards
manual, “Standard Specifications for Structural Supports for Signs, Luminaires and Traffic
Signals,” governs most structural support issues related to traffic lighting and controls. Many
state and city public works departments site the AASHTO standard as the guide for their
requirements. Local municipalities in coastal states, which experience frequent hurricanes, etc.,
may have exceptions to the AASHTO standard that require higher design limits for wind
velocity or dead load.
Numerous pole and mast arm assemblies are used for traffic controls and traffic lighting. Each
assembly and installation is unique and worthy of an evaluation of the static and dynamic load
bearing capabilities; however, in most cases, the assembly will include a pole with a single 6', 9'
or 12' mast arm holding a single luminaire. Many of these mast arms are typically designed to
hold hundreds of pounds of static load and to carry several square meters of sail area in 80mph
winds. The typical mast arm is capable of supporting a single traffic control (typically weighing
around 160 lbs) and a single traffic sign (typically presenting a few square meters of sail area). A
single luminaire typically weighs about 60 lbs and presents about 3 square feet of sail area.
Note
Each assembly and installation is unique and worthy of an evaluation of the static and
dynamic load bearing capabilities. It is your responsibility to evaluate the load bearing
capabilities of the structure.
The Tropos 5210 Wi-Fi cell weighs <14 lbs, including all mounting hardware. The Tropos 5210
Wi-Fi cell may be mounted to either the pole portion of the streetlight or to the mast arm portion.
Many municipalities find mounting the Tropos 5210 Wi-Fi cell to the pole portion to provide
better aesthetics in the public space.
When the Tropos 5210 Wi-Fi cell is mounted to the pole or mast arm, most of the unit is hidden
by the pole or mast arm and therefore presents minimal additional sail area to the structure.
When the Tropos 5210 Wi-Fi cell is mounted to the pole portion of the structure, the sail area of
the cell is approximately 1 square foot. Pole manufacturers have advised Tropos Networks that
small communications devices such as the Tropos 5210 Wi-Fi cell do not present any significant
static or dynamic load to these structures.