The reliance by the consultants (before and after the first cable failure in 2020) on a perceived allowable pullout of
one-sixth of the cable diameter, which should only be seen at loading at 80 percent of ultimate cable strength, does
not align with the AASHTO M 277 standard guidance. The committee, therefore, disagrees with the suggestion
made in the Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. (TT) 2022 report, Arecibo Telescope Collapse: Forensic Investigation,13 to
use the D/6 limit as a threshold for slip monitoring.
The reliance by the consultants (before and after the first cable failure in 2020) on a perceived allowable pullout of one-sixth of the cable diameter, which should only be seen at loading at 80 percent of ultimate cable strength, does not align with the AASHTO M 277 standard guidance. The committee, therefore, disagrees with the suggestion made in the Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. (TT) 2022 report, Arecibo Telescope Collapse: Forensic Investigation,13 to use the D/6 limit as a threshold for slip monitoring.