On this day in engineering history, the U.S. Air Force began
operations at its second Texas Tower (TT-2), a massive radar platform that was
fixed to the ocean floor to protect the northeastern U.S. against a surprise air attack.
Located on the Georges Bank some 100 miles east of Massachusetts, this Texas Tower was one in a
series of manned radar stations that were so named because they resembled the oil-drilling
platforms of the Gulf of Mexico. The Aerospace
Defense Command (ADC), the branch of the Air Force that was responsible for the
air defense of the United States,
estimated that the Texas
Towers would help extend
contiguous East Coast radar coverage some 300 to 500 miles seaward. In terms of
Soviet military capabilities, this would provide the United States with an extra 30
minutes of warning time in the event of an incoming bomber attack.
During the 1950s, the Lincoln Laboratory of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) studied the feasibility of putting
radar towers on giant metal platforms along the bottom of the North
Atlantic. By the spring of 1955, Bethlehem Steel had finished the
first such platform, shaping it like an equilateral triangle with cropped ends.
Measuring 210 ft. along all three sides, the 6,500-ton steel platform provided
a half-acre of surface area and was welded to 20-ft. high structures with
decks for living quarters and storage. The platform
also contained a helicopter landing pad and an operations station for two sets
of radar antennas. To prevent electronic interference, the FPS-3A search set
was elevated high above two FPS-6 height finders. The FPS-6 antennas were also pointed
in opposite directions, with one facing toward land and the other facing toward
sea. By the end of 1955, Bethlehem Steel had assembled the first two Texas Towers (TT-1 and TT-2).
Erecting a Texas
Tower was an arduous
task. After the platform was hauled out to sea, temporary supports were dropped
to the ocean floor and positioned to provide support. With the platform now in
place, the Raymond and De Long Companies sited the tower's three permanent
legs. Measuring 160-ft. long, these tubular caissons were buried 50-ft. into
the shoal. The leg's middle 50 ft. remained underwater, but the top 60 ft. rose
high above the ocean's surface. Each steel leg also contained a 140-ft. long
tube that measured 6-ft. in diameter. Jacketed by over 2-ft. of concrete, Texas Tower legs could hold either water or fuel. Typically, one leg was used
to store the seawater that was converted to drinking water for the crew of 6
officers and 48 airmen.
Life aboard Texas Tower 2 (TT-2) was difficult. Both the
structure and its crew suffered from the near-constant vibration caused by rotating
radar antennas and diesel generators. The surrounding ocean and tower footings
also transmitted distant sounds along the steel legs, amplifying them
throughout the entire structure. Although the first three Texas Towers
were relatively stable, Texas Tower 4 (TT-4) failed under the stress of
and waves. On January 15, 1961, TT-4 was battered by a fierce storm with 85 mph
winds and waves up to 35 ft. high. After one of its three legs snapped in half,
both platform and crew sank to the ocean floor. By the end of 1963, the U.S. Air
Force decommissioned the remaining three Texas Towers,
hiring contractors to blast the legs but salvage the metal platforms.
Resources:
http://www.texastower.com/history_new.htm
http://www.radomes.org/museum/documents/TexasTower.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Defense_Command
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Re: May 7, 1956 - A Second Texas Tower Guards the Atlantic
