On this day in engineering history, Western
Electric finished work on the first part of the Distant Early Warning (DEW)
Line, a series of radar stations that were designed to detect incoming Soviet
bombers armed with nuclear weapons. When the DEW Line was completed
in 1961 with an eastern segment to Iceland, the New York Times called it "one of the modern wonders of the
world".
North American Air Defenses
A joint project of the U.S. and
Canadian governments, the DEW Line was an engineering marvel that pitted man
against nature on the coldest battlefront of the Cold War. Built 200 miles above
of the Arctic Circle and across the 69th parallel,
DEW was the northernmost of three early-warning radar lines. The pulsed-radar
Pinetree Line ran along Canada's
50th parallel while the Mid-Canada Line (MCL) or "McGill Fence" used Doppler-detection and spanned the 55th parallel.
Dog Sleds and Airlifts
As general contractor, Western Electric built
the first part of the Distant Early Warning Line in just two short Artic summers.
During the winter of 1954 - 1955, siting crews who traveled by snowmobiles and
dog sleds identified the best locations for radar stations. According one
historian, "Western Electric men wore 30 pounds of clothing and carried
twenty-pound sleeping bags whenever going out for a stroll".
When the siting
work was complete, Canadian subcontractors built the roads, docks, airfields
and hangars needed for receiving and storing supplies in one of the most
isolated parts of North America. In history's
largest commercial airlift, 81 airlines delivered 120,300 tons in 45,000
flights in 32 months. Naval convoys that waited for warmer months delivered the
majority of DEW Line supplies, however, transporting 281,600 of a total 460,000
tons.
Searching for Signs of Armageddon
The main DEW Line radar stations in Canada used the
AN/FPS-19, a magnetron-type search radar built by Raytheon. With a peak power
of 137 kW and a pulse repetition frequency of 400 Hz, the AN/FPS-19 was a
high-power, L-band, search radar with two identical radar sets that fed a
back-to-back antenna.
Auxiliary DEW Line radar stations used a Motorola-built Fluttar
radar that operated at frequencies from 475 to 525 MHz. Designated as the
AN/FPS-23, these Doppler-effect detection systems filled the low-altitude gaps
between the AN/FPS-19 radars located at main stations. Both types of search
radars served as a "tripwire" to alert DEW Line operators that an airborne
intruder had passed through the transmit/receive path.
Decline of the DEW Line
Designed to detect Soviet bombers, the DEW
Line declined in usefulness when North America's
Cold War adversary developed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and
submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). In 1985, the United States and Canada agreed to upgrade or replace
(depending on one's perspective) the DEW Line with the North Warning System
(NWC). Completed in 1992, the NWC includes ground-based stations and
incorporates air warning and control aircraft (AWACs).
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEW_Line
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/aina/DEWLineBib.pdf
http://www.porticus.org/bell/pdf/dewlinestats.pdf
http://www.lswilson.ca/mcl.htm
http://www.factscanada.ca/friday/friday-2000-07-10-06.shtml
http://www.lswilson.ca/dewline.htm
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Re: July 24, 1957 – Western Electric Builds the DEW Line
