SLC 13

If anyone's interested I heard from an Air Force contact that the tower at
complex 13 will be demolished next Saturday. Depending on how close I get
to be, if I get any decent pictures I'll post them somewhere.

Tim K. wrote:
If anyone's interested I heard from an Air Force contact that the tower at
complex 13 will be demolished next Saturday. Depending on how close I get
to be, if I get any decent pictures I'll post them somewhere.

Wasn't this tower preserved as a national landmark?

- Ed Kyle

"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
oups.com...
Tim K. wrote:
If anyone's interested I heard from an Air Force contact that the tower
at
complex 13 will be demolished next Saturday. Depending on how close I
get
to be, if I get any decent pictures I'll post them somewhere.

Wasn't this tower preserved as a national landmark?

Unfortunately no. It's being eaten away by the salt spray. The tricky bit
is that the paint has PCBs in it so it makes the demo work a challenge.
Some of the neatest stuff going on at the Cape is the environmental
remediation at the old launch complexes.

Tim K. wrote:
"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
oups.com...
Tim K. wrote:
If anyone's interested I heard from an Air Force contact that the tower
at
complex 13 will be demolished next Saturday. Depending on how close I
get
to be, if I get any decent pictures I'll post them somewhere.

Wasn't this tower preserved as a national landmark?

Unfortunately no. It's being eaten away by the salt spray. The tricky bit
is that the paint has PCBs in it so it makes the demo work a challenge.
Some of the neatest stuff going on at the Cape is the environmental
remediation at the old launch complexes.

A shame. This is the last tower on "Missile Row"
(though the original Atlas ICBM service tower was
replaced during the 1960s).

- Ed Kyle

Tim K. wrote:
If anyone's interested I heard from an Air Force contact that the tower at
complex 13 will be demolished next Saturday. Depending on how close I get
to be, if I get any decent pictures I'll post them somewhere.

Here is the Media Advisory on the demolition:

" Media Advisory
U.S. Air Force
45th Space Wing Public Affairs Office
1201 Edward H. White II Street, Patrick AFB FL 32925-3237
(321) 494-5933 DSN: 854-5933 FAX (321)
494-7302

#05-07-06
July 29, 2005


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

179-foot Launch Tower at Complex 13 to be Demolished with Explosives
Aug. 6
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. - The mobile service tower at
Complex 13 here is set to be demolished Saturday, Aug. 6 between 11:45
a.m. and 12:45 p.m. The tower stands some 179 feet tall and weighs
approximately 1,300 tons. It will be demolished by placing and
detonating 171 pounds of explosives on the tower.
This is the first launch tower to be demolished here with
explosives since the mobile service tower and umbilical tower at Space
Launch Complex 41 on Oct. 14, 1999. About 180 pounds of explosives
were used.
The tower at Complex 13 is being demolished as part of an
environmental clean up project. "The tower was abandoned in 1978 and
hasn't been maintained since. Salt air has caused significant
corrosion, causing pieces of it to fall to the ground," said Teresa
Fiorillo, 45th Space Wing project officer. After the tower is removed,
soil and groundwater remediation activities will begin.
"The tower will appear to topple in one piece and fall to the
north of its current standing location," said Ken Dinally, 45th Space
Wing explosives safety manager. The debris will be cut into manageable
segments, which will be hauled off and buried in a specially
constructed cell at the landfill here.
(more)


2-2-2
Since the PCB and lead-contaminated paints pose no threat to
leaching, burial of the debris is the most direct and economically
efficient means of waste disposal.
There were 51 Atlas and Atlas/Agena missions launched from Complex
13. The first launch was Aug. 2, 1958 and the last on April 6, 1978.
Perhaps the most famous of those missions were the five Atlas/Agena
unmanned launches for the Lunar Orbiter program, between August 1966
and August 1967. These missions mapped 99 percent of the moon's
surface and paved the way to man's landing on the moon.
"In a way, it's sort of sad to see one of the old launch
towers come down, but due to the extreme corrosion on the tower, it's
just not safe to leave it standing," said Dinally. Once the clean-up
is completed, the site will be available for industrial re-use.

-30-
Note to editors - A temporary link from the 45th Space Wing's
homepage has been established that contains photos and fact sheets
regarding this project. It's at: https://www.patrick.af.mil/. From
there, click on the "LC-13 Media Kit" icon. Also accessible via
our website is the July 29 edition of the Missileer newspaper. It
contains articles about the demolition, history of Complex 13 and the
environmental remediation project on pages 12 and 13. The following
media events have been scheduled to facilitate media coverage of the
tower demolition:

Tuesday, Aug. 2 -- Visit to Complex 13 to shoot B-roll/still photos and
interview project managers; those interested should report to the
Florida Space Authority parking lot (just outside of the CCAFS South
Gate) by 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 6 - Remote camera placement; those interested should
report to the Florida Space Authority parking lot by 8 a.m.
Participants must sign a liability waiver.

Saturday, Aug. 6 - Demolition viewing/coverage; those interested
should report to the Florida Space Authority parking lot by 11 a.m. for
escort to the press site at Complex 15.

####
Contacts: Ken Warren and 1st Lt. Kevin Coffman, (321) 494-5933/7731."

- Ed Kyle

"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
ups.com...
Here is the Media Advisory on the demolition:
snip

Well spotted. I'm going along on the media romp tomorrow to shoot some
pictures and hope to get it falling on Saturday. I got some great shots of
it from a helicopter just over the beach about a month ago but hope to get
some of the blockhouse etc. We'll see how it goes.

Ed Kyle wrote:
Here is the Media Advisory on the demolition:
[...]
Note to editors - A temporary link from the 45th Space Wing's
homepage has been established that contains photos and fact sheets
regarding this project. It's at: https://www.patrick.af.mil/. From
there, click on the "LC-13 Media Kit" icon.

Dang -- in the LC13b.jpg picture, the speed limit sign is cutoff at the
bottom of the frame...was it 17,000 MPH?

/dps

Tim K. wrote:
"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
ups.com...
Here is the Media Advisory on the demolition:
snip

Well spotted. I'm going along on the media romp tomorrow to shoot some
pictures and hope to get it falling on Saturday. I got some great shots of
it from a helicopter just over the beach about a month ago but hope to get
some of the blockhouse etc. We'll see how it goes.

Good luck. While you're there, could you ask someone
why this steel could not be scrapped? Surely there
is a process to handle the contaminants during a
melting process. Perhaps it is just a matter of
cost (scrapping cost exceeds scrap value?).

That's a lot of steel, but what about the broken up
Saturn V tower, or Complex 36 or 40, etc? Do they
have the same PCB problem?

- Ed Kyle

"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
oups.com...

That's a lot of steel, but what about the broken up
Saturn V tower, or Complex 36 or 40, etc? Do they
have the same PCB problem?

Yes - mostly it's not economical/no one wants to assume the liability is
what I've heard.

Actually, the only person who showed up from the press was Justin from
SpaceFlightNow, so he and I got walked around and I took a zillion pictures
while he talked to the project manager for the article.
This Saturday night go to kissimmeeprairie.org and I'll put up an "album"
page with pictures from yesterday and the blast. The clear will be half a
mile - we'll watch it from next to the blockhouse at SLC 14 so we'll see how
the pictures turn out from that distance.

"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
oups.com...
Good luck. While you're there, could you ask someone
why this steel could not be scrapped? Surely there
is a process to handle the contaminants during a
melting process.

Dropping two Terminators into a furnace didn't seem to be a problem.