March Air Reserve Base Air Traffic Control Tower Demolished

On Aug. 19, at approximately 9:20 a.m., the March Air Reserve Base air traffic control tower was demolished. FLINTCO Constructive Solutions’ experts brought it to the ground safely with two large earthmovers. Two time lapse clips of the top of the old March Field traffic control tower being pulled down. Aug., 19, 2014, March Air Reserve Base, Calif. No audio. Video courtesy of Master Sgt. Roy Santana and Donald Allen, 4th Combat Camera Squadron. According to Mr. Sean Feeley, R.A., deputy base civil engineer, “the exterior cladding was removed one third of the way up to the tower and the steel structure was cut just prior to the use of the two excavators to enable the tower to come down with relatively little lateral force.” The old tower was used for 56 years and while the inside of the tower was kept up to date, the exterior of the building did not change with new earthquake requirements and was eventually deemed not earthquake safe. With updated requirements from the Air Force Flight Standards Agency and the Air Force Air Traffic Control Tower Design Guide taken into account, the decision was made to demolish the tower and build a new one. According to a news release distributed by March Air Reserve Base, “the requirements have changed from those governing the original design and construction of the 1958 structure.” The new tower is located on the edge, next to the flight line; adjacent to where the old tower stood. All of the base operations utilizing the old tower were moved to the new tower in June of this year. Due to the size restrictions of the old tower, not all of the necessary base operations were able to be completed in the old tower. The old tower measured 135’9” tall with a total building space of 15,816 square feet, while the new tower is 129’6” tall with 19,036 square feet of building space. Although the new tower is six feet shorter than the old tower, it's larger width gives it more floor space. In addition to the extra elbow room, the new tower was constructed to meet all new seismic standards and include a 360-degree view of the airfield and surrounding property. Tonya Wilson, Air Traffic Training and Standardization Manager, worked in the old tower and is currently working from the new tower. With five-and-a-half years of experience in the Navy, Wilson has been working on the March Air Field Base since 2003. "The new tower is much bigger, and clean. It’s nice and something for us to be proud of,” she said. Wilson also shared that because of the ventilation system, the old tower accumulated dirt much too fast. Also she shared, "the elevator was known for people getting stuck.” She said that since there wasn’t enough room for everyone to work in the old tower, workers would work in the Radar facility, “People would have to drive from the Radar to the tower, and work in either facility.” The new tower provides the resources to consolidate a number of offices on base, saving both time and money. Officials at the March Air Reserve Base share, “The height was determined such that it provides adequate visibility for taxiways/runways, provides the minimum angle of 35 minutes for depth perception to the farthest aircraft traffic surface on the airdrome, and provides necessary equipment, training, briefing, and administrative space.” The overall cost of the new tower was $17,316,592.