MSR / MSCB Description: Exterior

Part II. Architectural Information

B. Description of Exterior

1. Overall Dimensions:

The overall dimensions of the MSCB are 127,384 ft², with the usable area encompassing four major floors (two subterranean and two located within the turret) and several mezzanines.

The underground building volume has dimensions of 231 ft by 231 ft by 53 ft in height, whereas the above-ground exposed antenna turret has outside base dimensions of 136 ft by 136 ft. Turret walls are sloped at an angle of 56 degrees from the vertical, and its height is 79 ft with a 39-foot square roof.

2. Foundations:

The MSCB foundation is a 4-foot thick slab, thickened at outer walls and at concentrations of load-bearing areas. The foundation mat design employed a combination of flat slab, one-way, and two-way slab systems for vertical loads, and is designed as a diaphragm for lateral loads.

3. Walls:

Exterior walls (3 ft thick) were designed for vertical load bearing and as one-way or two-way slabs for dynamic lateral loads normal to the walls. In addition, they were designed as shear walls to resist dynamic loads due to nuclear weapons effects and soil pressures parallel to walls. The walls, including the subterranean portion, were covered with a waterproof coating.

4. Structural System, Framing:

MSCB design considered an average concrete strength of 5,000 psi and reinforcement with a 60 ksi yield and included a considerable number of 18S bars. The concrete was required to have a 28-day strength of 4,000 psi and a 1-year strength of 5,000 psi; MSCB design loads were developed considering the results of dynamic analysis. The reinforcing steel of the MSCB shell allowed for a limited degree of EMP attenuation.

Lightning protection for the MSR site was provided via installation of nine air terminals on the turret roof of the MSCB connected by down-conductors to the buried ground loop and to the MSRPP ground counterpoise grid; air terminals were also provided for each diesel air intake/exhaust stack, cooling tower, and public utility substation. Not only the MSCB but the fences, lighting standards, and radar antennae were all equipped with lightning protection.

Corrosion protection was provided for buried conductors such as electrical/communication conduits, utility piping, exterior steel shielding (as in the Sprint Launch Station) and the grounding counterpoise.

5. Radar:

Attachment for the radar antenna and antenna adaptor consists of a heavy steel antenna support ring installed in each of the four turret faces, consisting of a 30-foot inner-diameter steel ring with 36 shear keys; each was spaced equally about the perimeter to support the load, and the ring itself was embedded in concrete, leaving the inner diameter as the perimeter turret opening. The steel ring does not contribute to the strength or stiffness of the opening. The rings, fabricated of rolled steel plate, were electrically and magnetically continuous, and continuously welded to the building's steel liner plate. The shear keys support the weight of the antenna (over 400,000 pounds), and were designed to resist transient loads due to wind, earthquakes, and nuclear weapons effects. The weight on the shear keys was in directions normal to the plane of the ring, tangential to the ring and radially from the ring centroid.

Three equipment items were exposed directly to the potential of nuclear burst and thus were designed to withstand dynamic pressure and thermal loadings rather than building motions. They are listed as follows:

Antenna Array Support Structure:
Because of its importance and potential vulnerability, the array (two homogeneous plates connected by a continuum of tubes) received the most careful attention and accurate analysis of any part of the system. Vibration of the array was known to cause signal distortion and attenuation, so the array center deflection was limited to 0.5 in.
Antenna Adaptor:
The antenna adaptor was a donut-shaped structure which functioned as a support for the MSR array.
Q-channel Antenna:
The Q-channel antenna was a circular plate with a hole, supported at both the inner and the outer circumference. The "plate" was actually a sandwich of three plates, the outer plate was copper, the inner plate was steel, and the center plate was transit.

For each of the four radar apertures, a RF gasket was installed to ensure shielding continuity between the antenna ring, support structure, and adaptor.

6. Openings:

a. Doors:

Two 16-inch-thick emergency escape doors, one on the second floor (No. 278), the other on the third (No. 310), provided egress as well as protection. The door leaves were heavy, blast resistant steel plates with gas seals (to exclude radiation) and conductive gaskets (for shielding continuity). Both were operated manually and pneumatically. Door No. 278 provided egress from an EMP-shielded area into an escape tunnel, and Door No. 310 was located at a third-floor EMP/RFI shielding zone. Both were similar in construction and operation, providing passage openings of 3 ft by 7 ft. Each door was locally operated and provided with a means to permit remote monitoring and securing from the Equipment Readiness Center.

b. Tunnels:

The MSCB has three tunnels: an emergency escape; the Personnel, Equipment, and Utility Tunnel (PEUT); and the Launch Area Utility Tunnel (LAUT).

Emergency Escape:
The 100-foot-long emergency escape tunnel was located on the second floor. Extending from the north side of the MSCB to an unloading dock and ramp, the 13-ft 10-in by 12-ft 2-in corrugated metal plate arch tunnel was equipped with handrails and had bituminous flooring; only 55 ft were subterranean.
PEUT:
The MSCB was accessed by its power plant through the PEUT, Facility 0435. The PEUT was a hardened, reinforced concrete, buried structure which had an integrally formed two-story, separately shielded communications vault, sewage pump room, and utility entry mezzanine on one side. The lower portion allowed personnel and equipment ingress and egress.

The upper level was utilized for routing the MSCB electrical conduits, as well as conduits for fire alarm, security, warning and communication circuits, transmitter oil, cooling and heating water piping services, and makeup environmental air supply and return ducts between structures. This tunnel also contained lift pumps for sewage and industrial waste. Electrical power for the launch area was also routed through the PEUT to the junction with the LAUT. A separately shielded two-level communication vault was provided for entry of intersite and intrasite communication cables. Out-to-out dimensions are 50 ft by 38 ft by 36 ft in height. Flexible junctions (to permit differential movement) were provided for all utility connections to the MSCB and MSRPP. A flexible liner-plate shielding connection provided EMP protection at the MSCB junction. The tunnel's interior walls were also lined with 11-gauge sheet steel.

All services entering the MSCB through the PEUT were routed through steel pipe, conduits, or metal ducts which were seal-welded to the liner-plate shielding or to the steel bulkhead at the point of penetration. A steel barrier (bulkhead) located near the MSRPP end served as the point of entry to the liner-plate shielding for all utilities from the MSRPP. The bulkhead was provided with a shielded personnel and equipment door. The two-level communication vault was shielded as an EMP/RFI zone. Space was provided in the communication vault for the installation of EMP filters and/or suppressors on incoming communication cables. The exterior underground surface of the PEUT was provided with a waterproof coating.
LAUT:
This hardened, underground utility tunnel housed all services between the MSCB and the Missile Site Launch Area, including circuits for 4,160 volt primary electrical power, instrumentation, communication, and monitoring and control. The LAUT also provided access between the MSCB and the Missile Site Launch Area.

The LAUT was constructed of corrugated iron pipe and consisted of three basic sections
- a 7-foot diameter section joined to the PEUT and the cable entry structure (CES) and attached to the MSCB at room 201
- an 8-foot diameter section between the CES and the Launch Field terminating at an underground concrete shielded structure identified as terminal structure "A" (TS-A)
- a 7-foot diameter section of LAUT between TS-A and a similar structure, TS-B in the Launch Area.
A flexible wire cloth and copper sheet joint were provided at the MSCB and LAUT junction for electrical continuity between the tunnel walls and liner-plate shield to permit differential movement between structures.
The LAUT was designed with continuously welded seams and structural penetrations all inspected by the magnetic particle process. The tunnel provided continuity in the EMP/RFI shielding of the MSCB. All wiring other than Weapon Systems Contractor (WSC) cables were contained in electrically-continuous conduits where routed through the LAUT, whereas sensitive WSC data communication cables were equipped with RFI filters in the CES for additional protection.
The WSC data communication cable was routed through the LAUT on open trays. The tunnel sections were connected to the PEUT and CES by the flexible wire mesh junctions. The exterior underground surface of the LAUT was provided with a waterproof coating.

c. Security Penetrations:

Capped sleeves, welded to the liner plate, were provided with space allocated for installation of appropriate filters; filters were installed in the security circuits at the penetration of the EMP/RFI shielding zones.

d. Other Penetrations:

Numerous penetrations of the MSCB exterior (building shell) surfaces were present. They included:

Antenna array apertures, one in each sloping wall of the turret, four total
Antenna washdown pipes, one automatic and one manual adjacent to each aperture, eight total
Very Low Frequency (VLF) antenna opening in the roof of the turret, one total
Q-channel antenna opening, one in each sloping wall of the turret, four total
Transmitter warning horn cableways, one in each of the four sloping walls of the turret
Vent for the Inert Gas (SF6) Pressurization System in the sloping north wall of the turret, one total
Telephone and electrical outlets, one telephone, and two electrical near the base of each sloping wall of the turret, 12 total
Hose bibs, one near the base of each sloping wall of the turret, one total
Waveguide entry for Weapon System Equipment (WSE) in the vertical east wall below the third-floor level, one total
Emergency Escape Hatch in the roof of the CES, one total (This hatch was provided with a blast-hardened, EMP/RFI-shield gasketed cover to be welded shut when material handling operations were completed. Escape hatch for the LAUT (in TS-B) could be opened from the inside only.)

Piping, tunnels, conduit, and sleeves were welded to ground grid fans. The interface with the tunnels and the PEUT included flexible connections as required for shock strains.

7. Roof Characteristics:

The turret roof was composed of concrete with elastomeric roofing. It is 140 ft² in plan and designed both to carry vertical loads and to transfer lateral loads to the shear walls. The subterranean roof is concrete with earth backfill.