Tonj Tower

What a thrill it's been for me these past few days watching the radio tower go up on the In Deed and Truth compound. This is a long awaited and much prayed for event. A team of five men from a German company called Diguna which is based in Kenya arrived on Wednesday to set about this task. They are all knowledgeable and experienced in doing this work.

Since this is the first time I have had the opportunity to witness this process I'll do my best to explain how it goes according to my limited knowledge.

                      Phase One ?


It would be easier and less wordy if I said this is the first phase but that would be incorrect.  A cement foundation or base as it's called was built before the team arrived to erect the tower. From that base sections are added. Actually the correct term is an element. There are 23 elements in total. When finished the total height of the tower will be 69 meters or 226 feet.

Now how do you get these elements one on top of the other at such heights?

The elements

Have you ever played a game called Hangman? I used to play it as a little kid. As I think about the concept of it, what a terrible game to teach children. Anyway back to my point. A tool called a Hangman is used to pull the elements up. It's hard to see out there in the blazing sun but hopefully you can see the element being raised.  The almost finished building at the base of the tower will be the transmitter room plus the place where the generator is housed.

What you see here is only the partial picture of what is happening.  Let's broaden the lens and see what's going on at the perimeters.

Here are two brave guys that are harnessed on up the tower. They secure each element as it comes up. They use certain signals and whistles from their buddies on the ground to get their attention and be in sync.


As you can see there are a number of cables or in this case guide wires coming out from the tower. There are 21 of these in all. Let's see where these lead to.

These guys are securing cables I am told there are 6 of these total.  They are also built into a cement base.

I have to back up a minute to explain what Daniel, a German guy, is doing here. When the Hangman is pulling the element up ropes act in a counter fashion allowing it to go upward. A team of guys are pulling the ropes on the ground.

Hope that makes sense. If you look closely at this photo you can see the tip of a house on the outer corner. This is where I am staying. I am very close to the action so I can actually look out the window and see how things are going.

I am not the only one checking out what is going on. You can only imagine what the local people are wondering. Last evening there must have been about 50 people gathered around. Everyone is asking when they will be able to hear the radio. Excitement is building in the community.

After a glance out the window a few minutes ago I see them continuing on up.  Only 6 elements to go!

It's like a staircase to heaven :-)


         Final phase to come.