The Concrete Microwave Towers
Drawings and text courtesy of Wayne Weishan,
based on information contributed by Terry Michaels.
Tower Types
- Four blips at ground level represent 6' human figures.
- Type 1 & 2 towers are 24' square with 1' walls.
- Type 3 towers are 26' square with 1' walls.
- Type 4 towers are 26' square with 1' walls upper,
and 26' 8" square with 16" walls lower.
- From Type 1 to Type 3A the radio room is located immediately
below the roof, with 130/250V battery room below that and
12V filament battery room below that. Generator located on
ground floor for all types.
- From Type 3B to 4D the radio room remains at a fixed height
of 103' (8th floor) and the area above it is open. Long-Lines
considered a 14-flight walk-up to be the limit for average
maintenance tech. This also kept waveguide runs less than 100'
to reduce the effects of attenuation and echo distortion.
- A total of 49 were built - 40 from Thomas Hill to Collins, 4 between
Cincinnati and Columbus, 4 between Syracuse and Albany, and
one at Vernal.
- Some were demolished with considerable effort - Mishawaka, Sideling
Hill, and possibly Bald Knob. Sideling did not come down on the
first attempt.
- All types could be built with an upper deck, but only 12 had them.
Princeton's was removed to add a KS-15676 platform, but at
Morse, the KS-15676 platform was built through holes punched
in the upper deck.
- At least one of each Type was built. There are seven Type 4D - some
used slip-form construction. I've tried to imagine topping out a
slip-form tower at 190-ft.
It is interesting how dimensions were carried forward to the Type A
steel tower. Type A main platform is 27' feet square, the same as
a Type 1 roof deck. Type A upper deck is 15 feet above the main
deck, supported by a 7' square pylon - same as the concrete towers.
Individual Towers
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Updated on May 26, 2008 at 12:32 by Albert LaFrance