29
JULY-AUGUST 2013
ACCESS, LIFT & HANDLERS
When expensive, hard-to-
reach U.S. Air Force radar
systems needed modernizing,
ReechCraft Inc. was called in
for duty.
ALH
reports.
I
f you travel much, especially off the beaten
path, perhaps you’ve noticed one of these
huge white golf-ball-like structures off in the
distance, usually on some hill or mountain in the
middle of nowhere. Well, that’s no biosphere! It’s
a sophisticated Early Warning Long-Range Radar
System developed by Lockheed Martin. While
many Lockheed radars exist around the world,
29 of these systems are owned and operated by
the U.S. Air Force and provide air traffic control
and advanced warning surveillance throughout
North American airspace.
In 2011, the U.S. Air Force awarded a $46.8
million contract to Lockheed to modernize its
fleet of the 29 AN/FPS-117 radar systems placed
throughout the Great Northern Territory, Alaska,
Hawaii and Puerto Rico. As with any significant
award of money, however, follows significant
problems to solve.
A large part of the modernization requires
workers have access to the 3-story-high
– the units were still causing facial damage
when the technician slipped. The [workers] were
relatively safe, but the equipment was not.”
So CvI went to work, tapping into their
extensive experience and contacts, looking for
technologies and products that could be grouped
together to get the job done.
They needed a solution that could safely move
workers and equipment anywhere along the 36
foot by 24 foot, 10 degree array, while providing
full fall protection and preventing damage to
the expensive facial components. Due to the
remoteness of the sites, the solution would also
need to be extremely compact and light enough
to fit in relatively small transport vehicles.
CvI chose the ReechCraft PowerPole/The
PowerPole is lightweight and modular, and its
simple mast climbing design was the right fit.
CvI engineers augmented the PowerPole
with custom tie brackets to the back side of
the array as well as custom floor mounts and
platform fixings tilted at 10 degrees. The end
design solution features a fully railed platform
with special mesh to prevent falling objects from
damaging the radar face and a unit that is able
to scale up and down the entire array face.
“The system developed now covers all of
the areas needed for servicing, and is safe for
technicians and equipment,” Root says.
Due to their efforts, in March of this year, CvI
was awarded a $1.4 million contract from the
U.S. Air Force to manufacture and install this
system in 28 AN/FPS-117 systems in North
America.
■
SITE REPORT
multimillion dollar facial components of the
array which just so happen to be tilted back at
a 10 degree angle. Coupling these challenges
with the fact that the installations are located in
some of the most remote and extreme weather
locations in North America means a special
solution was required.
Engineering specialists
Enter Cv International (CvI), an Oregon-based
company specializing in custom engineered
systems for military and commercial ground
support as well as the wind energy and oil and
gas industries.
Prior to CvI getting involved, many solutions
were explored, starting with the natural “first
choice” in access.
“Ladders were causing damage – not to
mention not being terribly safe – on the Radar
facial components valued at nearly $15 million,”
said Ben Root, vice president of business
development for CvI.
More sophisticated powered systems were
also tried but had limitations.
“Manlifts could not follow the 10-degree slope
of the Radar face, so the technicians would
quickly find themselves too far away to reach,”
Root continues.
Seeing that traditional approaches wouldn’t
work, a custom alternative was developed but
fell short of expectations.
According to Root, “The prior custom system
they had developed was extremely heavy and
cumbersome to attach on the top of the radar
Tough access
Many Early Warning Long-Range Radar
Systems are in remote locations, like this
one pictured here.
