How to Determine Pole Depth of Pre-Existing Pylon Sign

[Steven Ayvar]

Hey everyone,

Would anyone know how to determine the depth of a pre-existing pole sign? I've spoken with the city hall but they don't have any permits or documents of the sign. I need the pole depth so i can provide it to our engineer so we can get the appropriate lightbox size.

Thanks in advance,

- Steve

 

[Billct2]

Got a shovel?

 

[studio 440]

Hey everyone,

Would anyone know how to determine the depth of a pre-existing pole sign? I've spoken with the city hall but they don't have any permits or documents of the sign. I need the pole depth so i can provide it to our engineer so we can get the appropriate lightbox size.

Thanks in advance,

- Steve

send the pictures and measurements to a engineer thats local and deals with signs and ask him to figure out what you need for weight and wind sheer . other than that you would need a very expensive underground radar scan or like the man says dig

 

[neato]

No clue, but nice design!

 

[Rick]

send the pictures and measurements to a engineer thats local and deals with signs and ask him to figure out what you need for weight and wind sheer . other than that you would need a very expensive underground radar scan or like the man says dig

This...

 

[Steven Ayvar]

send the pictures and measurements to a engineer thats local and deals with signs and ask him to figure out what you need for weight and wind sheer . other than that you would need a very expensive underground radar scan or like the man says dig

Sadly i've spoken to an engineer but he would need the depth to calculate the wind resistance since we are making the new sign larger than the previous one

 

[Jburns]

I am glad to hear you will have an engineer involved, since adding weight etc. to existing sign.

 

[Rick]

Sadly i've spoken to an engineer but he would need the depth to calculate the wind resistance since we are making the new sign larger than the previous one

There are companies that specialize in as-built construction surveys, I just had one done for a historical building, it was not cheap... you should have a few companies near your area...

 

[ams]

That foundation will not support that size cabinet.

 

[James Burke]

It looks like wires run up the leg.

So....just pull off the cover of the LB and see if you can drop a weighted string down the leg. Either that or pull off a light (if they're removable) and drop a plumb bob down through the hole. Or pull off a face...there should be a hole in there somewhere.

Worse case scenario, just drill a 1/4" hole at the top of the cross member and drop a string attached to a piece of welding rod.

That should at least give you the minimum depth.

JB

 

[Rick]

That foundation will not support that size cabinet.

I pray the OP knows this is the most unqualified statement I think I have ever read on this site, please ignore...

 

[Moze]

It looks like wires run up the leg.

So....just pull off the cover of the LB and see if you can drop a weighted string down the leg. Either that or pull off a light (if they're removable) and drop a plumb bob down through the hole. Or pull off a face...there should be a hole in there somewhere.

Worse case scenario, just drill a 1/4" hole at the top of the cross member and drop a string attached to a piece of welding rod.

That should at least give you the minimum depth.

JB

This. I've always used fishing line and a small sinker.

 

[Gino]

No engineer can tell you how deep any post is, without bill's shovel. They CAN however, explain how deep your new ones will be. How in the world do you know this or any other sign was installed correctly ??

Some places will grandfather a sign in without knowing, but you can't go any larger than the original sign was intended.

 

[ams]

I pray the OP knows this is the most unqualified statement I think I have ever read on this site, please ignore...

Actually Rick, I've installed several pylon sizes from small ones, to 50 feet tall ones. You can clearly see that the grass area is not wide enough to support a sign that size, the footer would not be under the parking lot or curbing. If the footer was 12' deep, that is another story, but we know it's not.

 

[Marlene]

Does anyone know what was there at before? If the city doesn't have any permits on file does the landlord have any info?

 

[Billct2]

That trick for figuring out the depth of the pole is pretty neat. But that still doesn't tell you the size of the concrete footing. I guess if the pole is deep enough, and heavy enough, you can go with that . Around here it's the combination of concrete footing & pole that holds a sign up, rarely is a it a post alone, at least not on big pylons.

 

[showie]

Does anyone know what was there at before? If the city doesn't have any permits on file does the landlord have any info?

This! Call the municipality and get the plans. Failing that, the land lord would have these on file (legally, they have to, otherwise, the plans are on file at the city and you can get them there, just roll the fee into the service charges if the client doesn't have files - warn them ahead of time though, because sometimes knowing there is a fee attached they'll magically be able to produce the files).

 

[ams]

Also what kind of rebar and what size is in it? Did the company cut corners and not do it properly? What about the anchor bolts? are they 12"? 18"? 30"? A sign that size needs 42" J-anchors. Probably 6 to 8 of them per pole.
Also is it 2,500 psi concrete? 3,000? There are a ton of factors involved. It's best to break out the concrete and start fresh. You can rent a skidsteer with a concrete hammer attachment and have it all broken up in 2 - 3 days.

 

[Rick]

Actually Rick, I've installed several pylon sizes from small ones, to 50 feet tall ones. You can clearly see that the grass area is not wide enough to support a sign that size, the footer would not be under the parking lot or curbing. If the footer was 12' deep, that is another story, but we know it's not.

Oh great, a pissing contest. Are we gonna base it on distance, volume, PMS Yellow color match - or the fact that I've been pissing in footings for nearly 40 years. You can't tell what a footer is based on the grass.

 

[Steven Ayvar]

Got a shovel?

Does anyone know what was there at before? If the city doesn't have any permits on file does the landlord have any info?

Yes there was an Arbies previously, here are some photos. The sign they had there before is smaller by a couple feet.