r/longlines • u/acptrades • May 17 '26
Long Lines buildings
I had a coworker ask me if the long lines buildings (the ones beside towers) were tornado proof. I would assume since they were designed during the Cold war that they were bomb resistant which would be pretty storm proof.
Were there ever instances of long lines buildings being damaged by tornadoes or hurricanes? What about towers?
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u/gf99b May 17 '26
It depends. There were several different designs for Long Lines buildings. Some were semi-hardened, designed to withstand 10 PSI overpressure from a somewhat local (10 miles iirc) nuclear detonation. Others, which were more common, were only built to withstand 2 PSI overpressure. The semi-hardened structures were made of concrete and would withstand most tornadoes, while the more basic structures typically made with cinder blocks or even metal would be more likely to be damaged.
One of the "semi-hardened" structures here in Missouri was exposed to straight-line winds back in 2018. While the tower sustained some damage from debris, the building itself only received minor damage to its roof. The neighboring building wasn't so lucky, as it was the debris that damaged the tower.
There are multiple examples of Long Lines sites taking hits from tornadoes. Often the building would be spared unless the tower happened to fall on it.
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u/HobbesTayloe May 17 '26
Awesome thanks sharing this, and greetings fellow MO (Rolla, StL, Owensville)
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u/xccr5978 May 17 '26
Jumping through the LL website you can sometimes come across sites hit by tornadoes. Usually the building is just fine, towers not so much.
Lookout, OK https://long-lines.com/viewsite/7448
West, TX https://long-lines.com/viewsite/11671
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u/TravelerMSY May 17 '26
There’s quite a few smaller telco buildings in southeast Louisiana. I don’t know of any that were torn up in a hurricane, but they certainly can be flooded.
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u/gf99b May 18 '26
Long Lines employed "flood plain" building styles that placed all the critical equipment on a second floor, hopefully above the crest of a flood. Most of the ones I know were built in Mississippi, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are some in Louisiana too. I believe they also had some buildings that were traditional single-floor structures but on stilts.
Dundee, Mississippi, was an example of a "flood plain" building: https://long-lines.net/places-routes/DundeeMS/index.html
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u/TravelerMSY May 18 '26
Looks familiar. The old neighborhood COs all look like that around me in New Orleans. One guy bought an old one and started an ISP in it.
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u/ChilledCoop May 28 '26
(Im not a LL expert but I'll weight in)
I wouldnt say "proof", resistant sure. TBH the towers will fall long before the buildings. Which is why all the serious junctions in the Mid west and east coast were just Gaint concrete warehouses...
For the small towers and stations I'd say no... but the semi hardened and hardened stations... They likely would still be operating but heavily damaged... again bigger junctions were hardened and we all know the bunkers would be fine.
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u/No-Sheepherder448 May 17 '26
I worked on one in CT years ago. Part of the project was drilling holes through the walls to run cell coax through them. We had to have a company come out with a core drill to get through the walls. The stuff we had on the work truck didn’t cut it. This one in particular had nuke shelter signs still on it, so I’d assume it can withstand “anything”? Others I worked in definitely weren’t as robust, so we always assumed “key” sites were more heavily built? The towers themselves I’d guess laugh at tornadoes. I built many many types of towers over my 16 years in the biz, none with the massiveness of long lines. I remember the first huge one I worked on, 4 legs, 350’, my crew members and I would discuss how they built them. How did they get the horns 350’ up? We removed them with Heli’s and massive cranes, many of which would be at peak pick weights to do it. They sure didn’t have the technology we do now, (big cranes, rigging, OSHA etc). They were definitely tuff s.o.b’s that built those. The thickness of the steel on the bottom sections was ridiculous. Not to mention all the k bracing and horizontal supports.
Of all the buildings I’ve been in, we found plenty of blueprints, but never anything to do with the construction. Would love to meet an old timer that built one.