Texas Tower (lighthouse)
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A Texas Tower
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...
is a structure which is similar to an off-shore
oil platform An oil platform (also called an oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, etc.) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms w ...
. Seven of these structures were built in the 1960s off the shores of the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Automation started in the late 1970s, which led to the obsolescence of the housing built for the keepers which resulted in such a large structure. Three of the towers were dismantled over time due to deteriorating structural conditions among other problems, while another one was destroyed in a ship collision. The last Texas Tower was deactivated in 2016 having served for over half a century. Today only three of the former lights remain.


Design and construction

These lights were all constructed at offshore stations previously served by
lightship A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the ...
s."Texas Towers Replace Lightships in Guarding Shoals."
''Popular Science'', September 1966, p. 123. An attempt to set a caisson light at Diamond Shoals off the
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
coast in the late 1880s showed that the techniques of the day were not adequate, and it was not until the 1960s that the Coast Guard attempted to replace the lightships with permanent structures. By that point, experience with offshore oil drilling platforms provided a model. The six lights were similar in form and, excepting the first, nearly identical in construction. Each consisted of a framework of four steel, concrete-filled piles driven deep into the ocean floor, upon which a square platform was set. This platform contained the living quarters and was assembled from a set of modules. A tower was attached to one corner and housed the light. The roof of the living quarters formed a
helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...
; a dock was also provided low on the framework. The name of the station was displayed on a large sign on each side of the light, on the side of or just below the platform. The quarters provided living space for six regular crewmen plus three transients. Normally, four crewmembers were on duty at a time, with regular rotation to shore. In addition to monitoring and maintaining the beacon, the crew also operated weather reporting equipment.


Automation and decommissioning

While these towers have stood against any storms thus far, two of them have fallen victim to ship collisions. In 1996,
Ambrose Light Ambrose Light, often called Ambrose Tower, was the light station at the convergence of several major shipping lanes in Lower New York Bay, including Ambrose Channel, the primary passage for ships entering and departing the Port of New York a ...
was struck by a Greek oil tanker, damaging it severely enough that it was replaced in 1999 by a new, smaller tower (which itself was struck twice before being demolished by the Coast Guard in 2008). A month after the Ambrose accident, Savannah Light was completely demolished when a container ship struck it. By that time all of these stations had been automated, beginning with the Diamond Shoals Light in 1977. Inspection of the (then) survivors revealed that four out of five showed substantial deterioration. Brenton Reef Light was demolished in 1992 and replaced with a buoy. The Buzzard Bay Light was demolished and replaced with a smaller tower in 1996; the Diamond Shoals and Frying Pan Shoals lights have been extinguished; both towers still stand and are now privately owned. Chesapeake Light was retrofitted with
solar panels A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...
and was the last tower to be an active navigational aid. In August, 2016 the light was deactivated by
NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...
after it was determined that the structure was deteriorating. The design of the Texas tower is now considered obsolete since there is no longer a need for a structure to house the keepers.


Towers built

The first Texas tower in the United States was the Buzzards Bay Light, located in
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts Buzzards Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Bourne in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,859 at the 2010 census. It is the most populous of the five CDPs in Bourne. Geography Buzzards Bay i ...
, which was commissioned on November 1, 1961. In total seven Texas tower lights were constructed over a period of six years. Chesapeake Light was the last to be deactivated in 2016 after it was used for NOAA and NASA to carry out studies.


Further reading

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References

{{Lighthouses in the United States Lighthouses in the United States