I was watching the tower crew measure the guy tensions on this tower the other day:
The preferred method is to use a pulling force to move the guy wire slightly off of the turnbuckle or hairpin bolt then measure that force. Hydraulic rams with a pressure gauge are used more often then not.
These guy wires are called “Bridge Strand,” the bottom wire is is 7/8 and the top is 1 1/8 inches. Normally, these are tensioned to around 5 – 10% of their breaking strength at 60 degrees F. In this case, it was slightly colder so the tensions are a little bit higher. If it would have been warmer, then they would be a few percentage points lower.
A couple of videos for your viewing enjoyment:
Lower guy tension 7,400 lbs, Upper guy wire tension 10,500 lbs. Both are well within their ranges.
I love work. I can watch people do it all day.
I’ve seen an old timer give a cursory tension check like kicking tires. Give it a good rap and time the return.
And the tension meter and cum-along is used.
They were smaller towers.
Tensions can also be calculated with the guy intercept method, which is measuring the amount of sag at the midpoint of the guy wire. That is less precise.