New Site Builds: Turnkey Tower Construction

A typical new site build runs 8 to 14 weeks from contract signature to commissioned handover. The big variables are permitting (FAA 7460-1 alone can take 30–90 days), foundation cure (7 days to 70% strength, 28 to full), and weather.

If FAA notification is already cleared and the foundation design is finalized, the physical build (civil, foundation pour, steel erection, RF install, and commissioning) compresses into roughly 3 to 5 weeks of on-site work.

Everything from the first site walk to the final punch-list walk: civil, foundation, steel, RF, grounding, commissioning, finishing, and handover documentation, all under one contract. See the full scope list above.

The alternative is hiring a civil contractor, a steel erector, an RF integrator, and a grounding specialist as four separate engagements, then project-managing the handoffs yourself. One missed handoff is a week of downtime and a crew of climbers you’re paying to stand around. Turnkey eliminates the gaps.

Guyed towers. Cable-stayed lattice, most cost-effective for taller heights (commonly 200–500 ft in our WISP and broadcast work). Smaller central pier, but a wide guy-anchor radius.

Self-supporting towers. Three-legged lattice, no guys required. Largest base compound of the three types because the leg spread and foundation below are the widest, but no guy-anchor radius to site around. Common heights 100–300 ft.

Monopoles. Single-tube structures, the lowest visual impact, preferred for urban and sensitive siting. Typical heights 60–200 ft.

Direct-embedment monopoles. Monopole set directly into an augered hole without a spread-footing foundation. Fast to deploy and the standard for utility SCADA and oil and gas remote sites. See our direct embedment service.

It depends heavily on tower type, height, equipment loading, site access, foundation design and materials, and whether FAA or FCC review is in play. To give you a usable sense of order-of-magnitude:

• Small monopole (60–120 ft, WISP-scale loading): lower five figures for a direct-embedment pole on a simple site, into the six figures for a foundation-set monopole in a complex jurisdiction.
• Self-supporting or guyed (180–300 ft): typically six figures, with foundation design and steel tonnage driving most of the spread.

We structure each project as a fixed fee on a defined scope, with unit rates and change orders for field conditions to protect both schedule and cost. Send us your site details and you’ll have a line-itemed quote inside a week.

If your structure is more than 200 ft above ground level, or sits within certain distances of a public-use airport, federal law requires an FAA Form 7460-1 notice-of-proposed-construction filing. Many towers shorter than 200 ft also require notification if they’re near an airport or an instrument approach path.

We file 7460-1 for you as part of the turnkey scope, track the determination through to issuance, and handle the FCC Antenna Structure Registration that typically follows.

Depends entirely on the engineered design, which is driven by soils, tower type, and loading. Rough ranges:

• Drilled-pier foundations (monopole or self-supporting): typically 8–20 ft deep, 3–6 ft diameter.
• Spread footing / mat (heavy self-supporting): 3–6 ft thick mat, 10–20 ft square or octagonal.
• Guy anchors: concrete blocks typically 4–8 ft on a side, embedded to the frost line and well beyond.
• Direct-embedment monopoles: pole set 10–15% of total height into an augered hole, backfilled with flowable fill or concrete.

We work from your engineer of record’s stamped design. If you don’t have an engineer yet, we can bring one in.

Send us the site (address, coordinates, or a pin on a map), your intended tower type and height, the equipment loading if you know it, and your target schedule. Request a quote here or call us at (763) 280-6050.

On first contact we’ll either quote from the info you provide or schedule a site walk. Sometimes both, back-to-back. Most customers have a line-itemed quote within a week.