Warren walked us out to the WLS tower and ATU shack. All the usual elements are there, except the Austin transformer, which is located inside the ATU shack. Notice the odd flanges in the base of the tower? Those are designed to allow a steel I-beam to be slotted through, in case it should prove necessary to replace the base insulator. The famous Blaw-Knox company built this tower in 1938; like many of their towers, it has stood the test of time. The only significant modification since construction was the addition of a level of guy wires at the top, which had originally been considered unnecessary.
Copyright 2004, Garrett Wollman. All rights reserved. Photograph taken 2004-07-06.