Loran tower comes tumbling down

http://www.soundingsonline.com/news/dispatches/482-june-7/257032-demolition

Watch the planned demolition of Alaska's tallest man-made structure. Coast Guard video courtesy of Connections Film and Video.

The Coast Guard's Civil Engineering Unit from Juneau and Controlled Demolition Inc. used explosives to bring down the Loran tower April 28 at the Coast Guard Loran Station in Port Clarence, Alaska. The 1,350-foot structure was deteriorating and Coast Guard officials say it was at risk for collapse. The 808-foot Alaska Public TeleCommunications tower in Knik, 30 miles north of Anchorage, is now the state's tallest structure, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard announced earlier this year that it would decommission the Loran-C program, saying GPS and other technical advances had made the 67-year-old system obsolete. Click here to read why an electronics consultant thinks shuttering the Loran-C program is the wrong decision.