4 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4> 



ulation center; and it was in response to this need that the idea of 

 Texas towers was bom. 



CONCEPT OF FIXED, OFFSHORE RADAR PLATFORMS FIRST OUTLINED 



AUGUST 1, 1952 



The concept of fixed, offshore radar platforms was first outlined in a 

 report dated August 1, 1952, by Lincoln Laboratory of the Massa- 

 chusetts Institute of Technology. The report found that such struc- 

 tures were possible, if we used shoals that were known to exist 80 

 to 100 miles off the northeast coast. Accordingly, Lincoln Laboratory 

 recommended consideration of facilities suggested by the original 

 Texas towers — oil drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico — to be 

 placed at five selected locations in North Atlantic shallows. 



OPERATIONAL ADVANTAGES OF TEXAS T0%VERS 



The Air Force concurred, with due regard for the significant opera- 

 tional advantages that Texas towers, in common with land-based radar 

 sites, had over both picket ships and early warning aircraft. Unlike 

 the latter, for example, Texas towers could be linked automatically 

 with the SAGE system. Texas towers, moreover, provided a fixed 

 platform, thereby permitting effective radar operations even under 

 adverse weather conditions — a capability that was not possessed by 

 shipborne or airborne radar. In addition, the locations of Texas 

 towers were exactly known and lience their data was considerably more 

 precise than that gathered from mobile stations. 



Early in 1954, after the operational requirement for Texas towers 

 was established, the Air Force initiated discussions with the Navy, 

 through its Bureau of Yards and Docks, for the actual implementation 

 of the Texas tower concept. The Navy agreed to act for the Air 

 Force as its design and construction agency. As a first step, the Navy 

 selected the architect-engineering firms of Moran, Proctor, Mueser & 

 Eutledge, of New York City, and Anderson-Nichols, of Boston, to 

 conduct a feasibility study. The Navy also made arrangements with 

 the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass., to 

 furnish to the architect-engineer wind and wave data. The architect- 

 engineer study, which was completed on October 1, 1954, found that 

 the Texas towers were technically feasible and could be built. Work 

 on detailed designs and specifications was begun shortly thereafter by 

 contract between the Na^'y and the same architect-engineer. 



CONTRACT AWARDS ON TEXAS TOWERS NOS. 2, 3, AND 4 



A contract for construction of the first Texas tower, No. 2, was 

 let by the Navy late in 1954; and in November 1955, the Navy placed 

 a contract with J. Rich Steers, Inc., New York City, and Morrison- 

 Knudsen, Inc., Boise, Idaho (a joint venture) for the construction 

 of towers Nos. 3 and 4. However, towers Nos. 1 and 5, for which 

 the need was not considered to be as pressing, were not undertaken 

 at that time due to fund limitations and in fact were never built. 



I think it might be helpful at this point, Mr. Chairman, if the com- 

 mittee so desires, to view a graphical representation that we have 

 here which indicates the location of the different Texas tower instal- 



