10 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 
2. Even with large diameter cylindrical legs the deflections of the platform 
without bracing were greatly in excess of the design criteria.” 
Tt was, therefore, concluded that tower No. 4, in a water depth of 
185 feet, would require braced legs. : 
The feasibility study and the report thereon were completed in 
October 1954 at a cost of $130,000 of which the Anderson-Nichols Co. 
received $60,000 and the Moran, Proctor firm $70,000. The feasibility 
report established that it was both feasible and practical to erect such 
offshore platforms in the Atlantic Ocean for the purpose intended. 
3. Design of the Texas towers 
Following the completion of the feasibility study, the district 
public works officer, by letter of intent dated December 7, 1954, and 
subsequently implemented by BuDocks contract NOy—86107, awarded 
a contract for the design and preparation of specifications for all 
five Texas towers. This, too, was awarded to the joint venture of 
Anderson-Nichols Co. and Moran, Proctor, Mueser & Rutledge. 
However, in contrast to the original contemplation of the person 
who invited their participation in the venture, the Moran, Proctor 
firm undertook the responsibility for the design of all the heavy 
structural components, with the Anderson-Nichols Co. relegated to 
the layout of living quarters, equipment rooms, and utilities systems 
engineering. 
(a) Physical description.—In general, the towers took the form of 
a multidecked platform in the shape of an equilateral triangle 155 
feet on a side attached to three legs, the diameters of which vary 
somewhat among the towers. The platform in its various decks 
contained equipment rooms, living quarters, the radomes, radio 
antennas, and heliport for the helicopters, a principal means of rapid 
transportation to and from the tower. 
After all the equipment, such as radars, diesel generators, evapora- 
tors, and the like, had been installed on and within the platform, 
its gross weight was some 5,000 to 5,500 tons. Without such equip- 
ment, its structural gross weight was on the order of 4,300 tons. 
The legs were lettered for identification purposes as A, B, and C 
in consequence of which the sides between the various legs acquired 
a designation of A~B plane, A—-C plane, and B-C plane, respectively. 
In the case of tower No. 4, the B leg was the most northerly, the A 
leg the most southerly, and the C leg the most easterly or seaward, 
so that the A-B side became the side closest to the shore. The hollow 
A and B legs were used for the storage of fuel oil while the C leg 
was used as the intake for sea water from which the evaporators 
made fresh water. There were other fuel storage tanks installed 
inside the lowest deck of the platform. As installed, the A-B side 
of the tower was on a bearing of N. 26° E. 
The following illustration is an artist’s conception of a cutaway 
view of the platform of the tower. It was prepared by Mr. Robert 
McCall of Chappaqua, N.Y., through whose courtesy it is reprinted 
here. (Above-water X bracing, installed at time of collapse, is not 
shown. ) 
1 Ibid., p. 57. 
