US3917765A

US3917765A - Concrete cooling tower

Info

Publication number: US3917765A
Application number: US392896A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donn B Furlong; Harry W Gobler; Robert Grotheer
Original assignee: Ecodyne Corp
Current assignee: CUSTODIS-ECODYNE Inc
Priority date: 1972-03-08
Filing date: 1973-08-30
Publication date: 1975-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 1992-11-04

Abstract

A concrete cooling tower shell design made from a minimum number of precast factory-made parts. The shell is fabricated from three basic precast prestressed concrete building elements; namely: wall panels, ''''T'''' beams, and louver posts. The wall panels and louver posts are positioned above a foundation to define the walls of the tower. The T beams are positioned above the louver posts and wall panels to form the top deck of the tower. The T beams have spray nozzle openings formed therein and have a reinforced concrete topping poured thereon in a unique manner which utilizes extension members at each nozzle opening to form a corresponding opening therethrough. The topping includes curb portions to define a hot water distribution basin thereabove.

Description

[4 1 Nov. 4, 1975 CONCRETE COOLING TOWER [75] Inventors: Donn B. Furlong, San Rafael; Harry W. Gobler; Robert Grotheer, both of Santa Rosa, all of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Ecodyne Corporation, Lincolnshire,

Ill.

[22] Filed: Aug. 30, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 392,896

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 232,830, March 8, 1972, Pat.

[52] US. Cl. 261/111; 26l/DIG. ll [51] Int. Cl. F28c 1/00 [58] Field of Search 261/111, DlG. 11; 249/61, 249/177; 52/220, 229, 230; 239/548,'557

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,954,788 4/1934 Chamblis, Jr. et al 249/61 2,732,190 l/l956 Mart 26l/DlG. 11 X 3,226,894 l/l966 Burchardt et al 261/111 X Primary ExaminerFrank W. Lutter Assistant ExaminerWilliam Cuchlinski, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirmJoel E. Siegel; Charles M. Kaplan 7] ABSTRACT A concrete cooling tower shell design made from a minimum number of precast factory-made parts. The shell is fabricated from three basic precast prestressed concrete building elements; namely: wall panels, T beams, and louver posts. The wall panels and louver posts are positioned above a foundation to define the walls of the tower. The T beams are positioned above the louver posts and wall panels to form the top deck of the tower. The T beams have spray nozzle openings formed therein and have a reinforced concrete topping poured thereon in a unique manner which utilizes extension members at each nozzle opening to form a corresponding opening therethrough. The topping includes curb portions to define a hot water distribution basin thereabove.

4 Claims, 31 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent N0v.4,1975 sheetlom 3,917,765

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet30f11 3,917,765

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet40f11 3,917,765

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 5 of 11 US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet6of11 3,917,765

U.S. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 7 of 11 3,917,765

U.S. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 8 of 11 3,917,765

U.S. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet9of11 3,917,765

U.S. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 10 ofll 3,917,765

This is a division of application Ser. No. 232,830;

filed Mar. 8, 1972, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,523.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the construction of cooling towers, and more particularly to the construction of an improved concrete cooling tower shell design made from a minimum number of precast factory-made parts which can be trucked to the jobsite.

The advantages of concrete construction of cooling towers instead of wood are apparent, primarily due to the increased life of the structure since the concrete structure will not deteriorate as does wood by rotting. Further, the need for expensive sprinkler systems is eliminated and insurance premiums cost less. While cooling towers have heretofore been made of prefabricated concrete parts, these towers have not been able to economically compete with the conventional wooden towers. The heretofore known concrete tower designs have either utilized numerous small light weight precast building elements, facilitating handling but requiring many time consuming steps to erect, or have utilized large cast-in-place elements which have significantly increased the cost of the tower.

The present invention discloses a cooling tower constructed entirely of concrete, metal and plastic parts that is economically competitive with conventional wooden towers. This is accomplished by fabricating the tower from a minimum number of uniquely designed precast prestressed wall panels, T beams and louver posts. These structural elements although relatively large in size, may be readily prefabricated and do not require a large amount of field work during errection because of the unique interrelationship between the elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a cooling tower that is constructed entirely of concrete and plastic parts.

Another object is to provide a concrete cooling tower which utilizes a minimum number of factory-made concrete parts which can be trucked to the jobsite.

A further object is to provide a concrete cooling tower which utilizes a minimum number of interrelated precast concrete elements which are specially designed to reduce field erection time.

Still another object is to provide a concrete cooling tower which utilizes a self-supporting structure that does not require internal structural support and therefore results in improved thermal performance.

A still further object is to provide a unique simplified method of constructing such a concrete cooling tower in a manner which minimizes field erection time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a concrete tower which utilizes factory-made parts that can be put together in different combinations to form various multi-cell cooling towers.

To attain these and other objects the present invention provides a concrete cooling tower, the shell of which is fabricated from three basic precast prestressed building elements; namely: wall panels, T beams and louver posts. The wall panels are precast to the necessary length to permit them to be tilted up into position above a foundation in a simple one step operation. In a similar manner the louver posts are precast and tilted up into position above the foundation. The louver posts contain louver blade receiving slots cast therein and an aerodynamic nose to reduce the pressure drop across the louver blade assembly. The T beams are positioned above the louver posts and wall panels to form the top deck of the tower. The T beams have spray nozzle openings formed therein and have a reinforced concrete topping poured thereon in a unique manner which utilizes extension members at each nozzle opening to form a corresponding opening therethrough. The topping further includes curb portions to define a hot water distribution basin thereabove. The tower filling is supported from the T beams rendering unnecessary any internal structural support for the tower or fill that would retard the movement of air and interfere with thermal performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereof and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cooling tower constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the foundation;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a section of the foundation illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional viewtaken along line 44 in FIG. 3 illustrating the connection of a louver post to the foundation;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 3 illustrating the connection of a wall panel to the foundation;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an interior portion of the tower, partially broken away to show the interrelationship between the component parts;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a portion of the louver blade assembly and its relationship to the foundation and'top deck;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a portion of the top deck of the tower prior to pouring the topping thereon;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 in FIG. 8; I

FIG. 10 is an enlarged plan view of the area encircled by line 10 in FIG. 8 showing the connection between the tops of adjacent wall panels;

FIG. 10A is an enlarged plan view of the area encircled by line 10A in FIG. 8 showing the connection between adjacent Tbeams; I

FIG. 1 1 is an enlarged plan view of the area encircled by line 11 in FIG. 8 showing the connection between the ledger beam and the keystone beam;

' FIG. 12 is an enlarged plan view of the area encircled by line 12 in FIG. 8 showing the comer connection of a wall panel, a T beam and a louver post;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along line 13-13 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along line 14-14 in FIG. 8; I

FIG. 15 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating a spray nozzle opening in a T beam with an extension attached thereto taken along line 15-15 in FIG. 18;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged plan view of the area encircled by line 16 in FIG. 8 showing the connection between the wedge shaped wall panel and the wall panel adjacent thereto;

FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along line 17.17 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 18 is a top plan view of a portion of the top deck of the tower with the topping poured thereon;

FIG. 19 is a sectional view taken along line 1919 in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a sectional view taken along line 2020 in FIG. 18;

FIG. 21 is a sectional view taken alongline 2121 in FIG. 28 is a sectional view taken along line 28-28 in FIG. 18.

FIG. 29 is a sectional view of aportion of the deck illustrating the connection of the fill assembly, and

FIG. 30 is an enlarged view of a detail in FIG. 29.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Since the present invention primarily relates to a novel concrete tower shell design, and the method of construction thereof, this disclosure will not concern itself with the interior details such as the hanging fill assembly, drift eliminator assembly, or the fan drive assembly. These assemblies are of the general type disclosed in copending US. application Ser. No. 63150 filed on Aug. 12, 1970, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the exterior shell of a three cell crossflow concrete cooling tower 10, constructed in accordance with the present invention, includes a foundation 11, wall sections 12, louver blade assembly 13, distribution pipes 14, top deck and fan stacks 16. The hereinbelow description discloses the specific construction of the exterior shell of tower 10 which is made up of the foundation 11, wall sections 12, louver bladeassembly 13 and the top desk 15. In order to simplify the disclosure the majority of the drawings and the disclosure are drawn to the shell structure of half of one cell. It should be understood that the other half of the cell is the mirror image of the disclosed half and that the other cells of the tower are substantially identical thereto.

Referring to FIGS. 2-7 and specifically to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is shown a reinforced concrete foundation 1 1 which includes footings 22 and floor 24. Footings 22 include longitudinally extending

outer sections

25 and 26, a centrally disposed longitudinal section 27 and a plurality of transversely extending sections 28 which divide the foundation into a plurality of grids 29; such that two transversely adjacent grids 29 correspond to each cell of the tower. Each grid 29 has a floor 24 which serves as the cold water basin for the corresponding cell. Floor 24 is preferrably poured-in-place,

with reinforcing mesh 37 positioned therein, after the pouring of footings 22. Floor 24 includes a projection 31 extending about the periphery thereof which is received by a corresponding notch 33 recessed into the sides of footings 22, as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. A poured curb section 35 extends upwardly from the outer edges of the

sections

25 and 26 to define the outer limits of foundation 11.

Formed within

footing sections

27 and 28 are recessed channels 30 which extend substantially the entire distance between the outer peripheries of foundation 1 1. Associated with each of the

sections

25 and 26 is a set of spaced apart recessed rectangular cavities 32 which extend substantially the entire length of the tower. Formed within footings 22 and extending respectively into channels 30 and cavities 32 are anchoring bolts 34, the positioning of which are indicated by marks in FIG. 3. Bolts 34 include threaded upper section 36 which extend into channels 30 and cavities 32, respectively illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 4.

Positioned within channels 30 are a plurality of substantially identical precast prestressed concrete wall panels 40, the construction of which is best illustrated in FIG. 6. Each panel 40 is a large one piece structural member (eg 40 feet in length) which extends the entire distance between foundation 11 and top deck 15. Panel 40 is precast as an integral unit and includes a pair of spaced apart vertical rib sections 42 of increased thickness which extend outward from a flange section 44 and which meet a horizontal n'b section 46 of similar increased thickness positioned adjacent the top end of flange section 44. The lower ends of rib sections 42 extend beyond the lower end of flange portion 44 and include metal base connecting plates 47 secured to the bottom surface thereof in a conventional manner, as by welding to connecting rods (not shown) precast into ribs 42. Plates 47 extend beyond both sides of ribs 42 and include holes therethrough spaced apart for receiving rods 34 within channels 30. Prestressed reinforcing rods 48 extend the entire length of panel 40.

Wall panels 40 are lifted up into position within channels 30 such that ends 36 of bolts 34 pass through the corresponding holes at both ends of connecting plates 47. As seen in FIG. 5, a locking nut arrangement 47' fastens plate 47 to bolts 34. Panels 40 are positioned and secured within channels 30 in a abutting relationship over the entire extent of channels 30 to form transverse wall sections 12 and'partition sections 12'. Embedded within the top surface of rib section 46 is a pair of weld plates 49 located at opposite ends thereof for securing adjacent panels 40 together. Adjacent weld plates 49 of abutting wall panels 40 are welded to a plate 50 spanning across the abutting edges of the respective panels 40, as best seen in FIG. 10. Embedded within the top surface of rib section 46 in vertical alignment with rib sections 42 are weld plates 94, as seen in FIG. 17. The wall panels at the intersection between the inclined louver blade assembly 13 and the wall sections 12 are wedge shaped to fill in the area therebetween, as indicated at 41 in FIG. 6.

Wall sections

12 and 12 serve both to support a substantial portion of the top deck 15 and the mechanical equipment associated therewith and to partition the tower into its respective cells.

Referring to FIG. 7, the louver blade assembly 13 includes a plurality of louver posts 52 for supporting louver blades 54 therebetween. Each louver post 52 is a large one piece structural member which is inclined upwardl and outwardly from foundation 11 to top deck 15. Each louver post 52 is a precast concrete member, cast as an integral unit with prestressed reinforcing network 55 formed therein; which includes a nose portion 56 formed along the outer edge thereof to an aerodynamic shape which reduces resistance to air flow. Cast within post 52 are a plurality of vertically spaced slots 58 which are inclined upward and outward for receiving louver blades 54. The lower end of nose portion 56 terminatesshort of the bottom of posts 52. As best seen in FIG. 4, a metal base connecting plate59, recessed within the bottom surface of post 52, and connected thereto in a conventional manner, extends beyond the outer and inner surfaces thereof and includes holes therethrough for receipt of corresponding bolts 34 positioned within cavities 32.The upper inside surface of post 52 is notched at 60 to form a supporting surface 62. A weld plate 64 is embedded within the upper surface of post 52.

Louver posts 52 are lifted into position within corresponding cavities 32 that bolts 34 pass through the corresponding holes in plate 59 to be secured in place by locking nut assemblies 65, as seen in FIG. 4. Louver blades 54 are positioned within slots 58 to complete construction of louver blade assembly 13.

Channels 30 and cavities 32 are filled with a cementitious grout, as indicated at 66 in FIGS. 4 and 5, to further stabalize wall sections 12 and louver blade assembly 13. The wall panels 40 and louver posts 52 are specially designed to be economically precastout of prestressed reinforced concrete at local precast concrete yards located near the jobsite and then trucked to the jobsite. Connecting plates 47 and

weld plates

49 and 94 are preferably precast into panels 40 prior to shipment to the jobsite. Likewise, connecting plate 59 and weld plate 64 are preferably precast into louver post 52 at the precast yard.

Top deck 15, supported upon the upper edges of wall panels 40 and louver posts 52, serves as the roof of the tower shell so as to define the cooling chamber therebelow and a hot water distribution system thereabove. Referring to FIGS. 6, 8, and 18, the top deck is illustrated as including a pair of precast prestressed double T beams 70 and 70, precast prestressed concrete top panels 72, and a poured-in-place concrete topping 74. Since

Tbeams

70 and 70 are substantially identical in construction, the corresponding parts of beam 70 are indicated by the same number as the part in beam 70 with the addition of a prime sign. The hereinbelow disclosed method of constructing top deck 15 forms an important part of the present invention.

Each double T beam 70 is integrally cast to include a flange portion 75 and a pair of spaced longitudinally extending ribs 76 extending downwardly therefrom. The end portions of ribs 76 extend beyond the edges of flange portion .75 as indicated at 77 in FIG. 6. Flange portion 75 includes a plurality of spray nozzle openings 78 formed therethrough, which arelined with opening defining inserts 103 adaptable to receive upwardly extending nozzle hole defining plastic extensions 105, as seen in FIG. 15. Reference is made to US. patent application Ser. No. 232,668. now abandoned in favor of Ser. No. 496,495, filed concurrently herewithand assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, for adisclosure of the method and apparatus used to precast beams 70. Embedded along both longitudinal edges of flange portion 75 are a plurality of spaced apart metal weld plates 79 formed therein, indicated by 6 X marks in FIG. 8. Beam 70 is precast with reinforcing wire mesh 80 formed within flange portion 75 and reinforcing rods 82 formed within ribs 76. Embedded within the bottom of ribs 76 at the outside edges thereof are weld plates 96.

Referring to FIG. 8, the portion of the top deck 15 corresponding to each half cell includes two beams 70 and 70', positioned one along side the other, supported on the corresponding wall sections 12. Referring to FIG. 13, the bottom surface of outer rib 76 of beam 70 issupported on surface 62 of post 52 and the outer edge of flange 75' extends above the top surface of post '52. Plates 79 are positioned along theouter edge of flange 75' so as to be in transverse alignment with plates 64 in post 52. Connecting plates 84 are welded at opposite ends to plates 79' and the corresponding plates 64 to secure the outer edge of beam 70 to louver posts 52. As seen in FIG. 17, weld plates 96 in ribs 76 are welded to' weld plates 94in rib section 46 to secure beam 70 to wall panel 40. spacer element 95 may be required to level beam 70. Referring to FIG. 10A, the inner edges of beams 70' are secured to the outer edges of beams 70 by welding the opposite ends of connecting plates- 86 respectively to

adjacent plates

79 and 79 positioned respectively along side one another. Referring to FIG. 12, the posts 52 which are in transverse alignment with a wall panel 40 include a plate 88 embedded in surface 62 thereof which in turn is connected to plate 49 of panel 40 by a connecting plate 90 welded at its opposite ends thereto.The bottom surface of section 77' has a plate 92"connected thereto which is likewise welded to plate 88. This three-way comer connection is used to rigidly-secure together wallpanels 40, T beams 70' and posts 52 at the four corners of each cell. Referring to FIG. 16, the top surface of panel 41 is secured to thetop surface of the adjacent panel 40 by a connecting member 98,'secur ed at its opposite ends respectively thereto by nuts 99 received by bolts embedded within the panels.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 8, and 14, a ledger beam-100 longitudinally extends between adjacent wall sections 12 at the inner edge of T beam 70.. The outer horizontal surface of beam 100 has weld plates 102 formed therein which are connected to the weld plates 79 along the inner edge of beam 70 byconnecting plates 104, welded at opposite ends respectively thereto. Supported on surface 106, notched from beam 100, are a pair of transversely extending spaced keystone beams 108 which extend to the ledger beam 100 associated with the other half of the cell. As seen in FIG. 11, ledger beam 100 has a weld plate 110 embedded within the top surface thereof which is in transverse alignment with a weld plate 112 embedded within the top surface of keystone beam 108. Connecting plate 114 is welded at its opposite ends respectively to weld plates 112, and 1 l4.

Referring to FIGS. 8, 9, 21, and 23, a set of precast top deck panels 72 are positioned on top of ledger beam 100, keystone beams 108 and wall sections 12. The set'of panels 72' includes three

panels

115, 117, and l 19, which when positioned in place define a semicircular fan stack opening 120. The edges of panels 1 15 and l 19 are supported immediately above ledger beam 100, keystone beams 108, and a section of a concrete bond beam 122 positioned atop of wall panels 40, as best seen in FIG. 21. Panel 117 is supported above ledger beam 100 and both keystone beams 108. The curved edges of panels 1 15, 117, and 119 which define 7 a fan opening 120 are formed by a curved channel iron 124 cast integral with the edges thereof.

A poured-in-place reinforced concrete topping 74 covers T beams 70 and 70' and panels 72. Referring to FIGS. 18-22, topping 74 is formed so as to define

curb portions

130, 132, and 134. Suitable concrete holding forms may be employed in accordance with conventional practice. Curb

portions

130, 132, and 134 define a hot water distribution basin 139 therebetween. Prior to pouring the portion of concrete topping 74 which covers T beams 70 and 70', the extensions 105 are secured to inserts 103 defining holes 78, as seen in FIG. 15. Tops 107 are releasably positioned on the upper edges of extensions 105 closing the openings therethrough. The concrete is poured to a depth reaching the upper edges of extensions 105 and allowed to set. Upon removal of tops 107, openings 78 extend through topping 74 and thereby permit water from distribution basin 140 to flow therethrough. Also formed integral with topping 74 are distribution pipe mounting blocks 140 having pipe retaining members 142 extending upwardly therefrom.

In the process of erection of the shell of tower 10, the foundation 1 1 is first poured-in-place at the jobsite with channels 30 and cavities 32 formed therein and anchoring bolts 34 extending therethrough. The precast wall panels 40 are then tilted up into position within channels 30 and plates 59 are secured to bolts 34 of locking nut assemblies 47', so as to form

wall sections

12 and 12. Precast double T beams 70 are then positioned in place above wall sections 12 and weld plates 96 are welded to weld plates 94. Precast ledger beams 100 are next positioned in place above wall sections 12 and secured to the inner edges of beam 70 by

welding plates

79 and 102 to connecting plates 104. Precast keystone beams 108 are then positioned in place upon surfaces 106 of ledger beams 100 and secured thereto by welding plates 114 to

plates

110 and 112. The precast louver posts 52 are tilted up into position within cavities 32 and plates 59 are secured to bolts 34 by locking nut assemblies 65 to form louver assembly 13. With the louver posts 52 in place, the double T beams 70' are then positioned above wall sections 12 and louver assembly 13. Corresponding

weld plates

79 and 79 are secured together by connecting plates 86 and weld plates 79 are secured to the corresponding plates 64 in posts 52 by connecting plates 84. Weld plates 92 are secured to weld plates 88 and

weld plates

49 and 88 are secured together by connecting plates 90. A concrete bond beam 122 is then positioned on top of

wall section

12 and 12, after which the precast

fan deck panels

115, 117, and 119 are positioned in place. The pouring of topping 74, defining openings 78 therethrough and curb

portions

130, 132 and 134 and blocks 140 thereon, completes construction of the shell.

The cooling tower shell construction of this invention is made by attaching together wall panels 40, louver posts v52, T beams 70, ledger beams 100, keystone beams 108 and top deck panels 72; all of which have been factory-made of precast, prestressed concrete and trucked to the jobsite. These parts can be put together in different combinations to form multi-cell cooling towers. This design greatly reduces the field work necessary to construct the tower and thus makes the insurability and fire resistance of concrete construction obtainable at an acceptable cost.

below the T beams and 70 and are secured thereto by bolts 152 which are received by fittings 154 in

ribs

76 and 76. Suspended from tubes 151 are wire fill hangers 154 which extend from tubes 151 substantially the entire height of the fill area and define a plurality of parallelogram grids 156 for support of fill strips 158. Fill strips 158 are of the type disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,468,521, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. Reference is made to US. patent application Ser. No. 63150, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, for disclosure of horizontal stabilizers and transverse stabilizers which may be used to increase the rigidity of fill hanger assembly 150. I

Construction of the tower shell in accordance with the present invention and suspending the fill hanger as sembly as mentioned above eliminates the need for internal structural supports and fill hanger supports which cause resistance to air flow and thus increase the.

pressure drop across the fill area. Such construction further permits a continuous spacing pattern ofv the fill strips throughout the fill area thus eliminating undersirable air and water gaps which interfere with thermal performance. I a

. Various modifications are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter defined by the appended claims, as only a preferred embodiment thereof has been disclosed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cooling tower structure including a plurality of precast concrete wall panels positioned above a concrete foundation so as to form a plurality of transverse wall sections defining cooling cells therebetween and a plurality of longitudinal wall sections dividing said cells in half; a top deck structure comprising:

a. precast concrete T beams extending across the upper ends of said transverse wall sections of each 'half cell having spray nozzle openings formed therein; v

b. precast concrete ledger beams extending longitudinally across the upper ends of said transverse wall sections of each half cell;

c. precast concrete keystone beams extending between said ledger beams associated with facing half cells; and I d. a plurality of precast fandeck panels supported upon said ledger beams and said keystone beams,

said panels being shaped so as to define a fan stack opening therethrough.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein a poured-in-place reinforced concrete topping is provided above said T beams and said fandeck panels-having openings formed therein in communication with the openings in said T beams.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein opening defining inserts are provided within each of said spray nozzle openings and openings defining extensions extend upward from each of said inserts for defining said openings in said topping.

4. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said reinforced concrete topping includes upstanding curb portions integral therewith defining a hot water distribution basin.

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. 1 3,917,765

DATED November 4, 1975 INVENTOR(S) I Donn B. Furlong, Harry W. Gobler 6: Robert Grotheer It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent D are hereby corrected as shown below:

In column 3, line 28 delete and insert In column 5, line 21 after "32" insert -such-.

i Signed and Scaled thlS Sixth Day Of April1976 Attest:

9 RUTH C. MASON E Arresting Officer C'MARSHALL DANN 5 UHIHIISSIIHH! u] Parwm and Tradem rk; r Q i E i T

Claims

1. IN A COOLING TOWER STRUCTURE INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF PRECAST CONCRETE WALL PANELS POSITIONED ABOVE A CONCRETE FOUNDATION SO AS TO FORM A PLURALITY OF TRANSVERSE WALL SECTIONS DEFINING COOLING CELLS THEREBETWEEN AND A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINAL WALL SECTIONS DIVIDING SAID CELLS IN HALF, A TOP DECK STRUCTURE COMPRISING: A. PRESENT CONCRETE T BEAMS EXTENDING ACROSS THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID TRANSVERSE WALL SECTIONS OF EACH HALF CELL HAVING SPRAY NOZZLE OPENINGS FORMED THEREIN, B. PRECAST CONCRETE LEDGER BEAMS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY ACROSS THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID TRANSVERSE WALL SECTIONS OF EACH HALF CELL, C. PRECAST CONCRETE KEYSTONE BEAMS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID LEDGER BEAMS ASSOCIATED WITH FACING HALF CELLS, AND D. A PLURALITY OF PRECAST FADECK PANELS SUPPORTED UPON SAID LEDGER MEANS AND SAID KEYSTONE BEAMS, SAID PANELS BEING SHAPED SO AS TO DEFINE A FAN STACK OPENING THERETHROUGH.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein a poured-in-place reinforced concrete topping is provided above said T beams and said fandeck panels having openings formed therein in communication with the openings in said T beams.