nuts securing the tower to its baseplate were removed

[harm_less]

OK, I'm not an engineer but even I know that this was a dumb idea

I presume the maintenance must have been to replace rusty bolts or some such, in which case common sense would dictate to replace one at a time...

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, Transpower chief executive Alison Andrew said all the nuts securing the tower to its baseplate were removed, "which caused the tower to lift off the baseplate and fall".
Andrew said it was the organisation's belief that "the specifications and procedures for this type of work were not followed".
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zeala...-says.html

The first TV news coverage I saw of this showed the base plates ('feet') in mid air with bolt holes intact so this latest revelation comes as no surprise. Apparently the maintenance being undertaken included sandblasting... 2 + 2 = ?