Monday, August 25, 2025
Retired Missile Silos
I have always thought a retired ICBM silo would make a neat home: quiet, well -insulated, and earthquake-proof. (Oh, and safe from anything but a very near atomic bomb explosion. Not that most of us worry about that.) This video conveys how much was required to render one useable after the Air Force decommissioned an Atlas base. It looks profoundly cool.
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An Atlas-F site is the best choice, but there are very few of them. Later Titan sites are OK, the Titan-I is the roomier of the two but there were only ten built, I believe.
ReplyDeleteA more practical choice perhaps is a decommissioned ATT LongLines bunker - square construction, far enough underground for radiation hardening, closer to towns usually, and not nearly as decrepit. Many have tall radio towers (perhaps a leasing opportunity) and have their original generators still installed. Most of the surplus missile facilities have little to nothing left working.
There were/are TWO decommissioned Titan silos in our area. One is out near Grand View and has been a hazardous materials depository for a number of years. The other is just a couple miles off I-84 at the Mayfield-Orchard exit. Decades ago, my buddies and I used to go out there and explore the place - it was amazing. Particularly the big underground "dome" room - probably 150 feet across and 30 feet to the ceiling. Lots of tunnels with electrical conduit running through - and of course the silos with 4-foot think reinforced concrete "doors" on 3-foot diameter steel hinges. You could drop rocks in and listen to 'em whistle for several seconds, until they hit the water. Somebody obviously purchased the property; there's a tall chain link fence and sternly-worded NO TRESPASSING signs ever since.
ReplyDelete(Rumor has it that the program was abandoned before missiles were ever dropped into the silos. Your tax dollars at work.)