4 ms·

Back in the late 1960s, and early 1970s, AT&T built a series of nuke resistant bunkers. The typical specs were concrete walls 36" thick, self contained turbine

Back in the late 1960s, and early 1970s, AT&T built a series of nuke resistant bunkers. The typical specs were concrete walls 36" thick, self contained turbine generators, water and air purification, plus rations to last up to 6 months. Some of those facilities are still around and operating (including one not far from me). I would expect that the switching gear of todays vintage takes up much less space and power than it did in 1971. Back then the interconnections were via long-distance coxial cable and microwave. Today there are fiber huts adjacent to the bunker. I wonder what AT&T uses all that extra floor space for now.

pak 16y ago
I don't think you were referring to these, but there are actually a few windowless, fortified concrete skyscrapers in New York that were built as telephone switching centers. Here's one in Lower Manhattan that is 29 stories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street They were likewise designed to withstand nuclear fallout. Because telephone switching equipment has shrunken over the years they now rent out some of the floor space as a hosted ultrasecure datacenter.
- nkassis 16y ago
  That building looks like something right out of blade runner.
  - Devilboy 16y ago
    The article calls it 'extreme brutalism' http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=33+Thomas+Street,+manhattan&sll=-33.886413,151.118261&sspn=0.022836,0.016201&g=33+Thomas+Street&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=33+Thomas+St,+New+York,+10007,+United+States&ll=40.716799,-74.00565&spn=0.000966,0.001523&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=40.716799,-74.00565&panoid=kxOcRk6jH3sMR-4XaNyn1w&cbp=12,208.86,,0,-36.67 http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...
- cosmicray 16y ago
  > I don't think you were referring to these, but there are actually a few windowless, fortified concrete skyscrapers in New York that were built as telephone switching centers. Actually no. The ones I'm referring to were (usually) built way out in rural areas, where they were away from the expected blast area of a hit on a major city. The one I'm aware of is built mostly underground, then backfilled so that it looks like a natural hill (a hill with a concrete top, and a big microwave tower). Some of these facilities were rumored to have ground entry points for a system called Combat Ciders ... http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/combat_ciders.htm http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/combat_ciders.htm
- Pfiffer 16y ago
  > The floors are also unusually strong, designed to carry 200 to 300 pound per square foot (10 - 15 kPa) live loads. This is pretty much the coolest thing I've seen all day. I'm not sure what kind of standards buildings are held up to in terms of load-per-foot-squared, but that seems like an awful lot to me. That building is incredible.
  - rdl 16y ago
    Most purpose built datacenters are >100 lb/sf. You only really need in excess of that for rooms full of batteries. Even generators, while individually heavy, usually have enough spare space around them that the overall loading in the room isn't approaching banks of batteries. Most datacenters which are in excess of that were either originally built for telcos (crazy battery banks for the DC plant), or were industrial (e.g. the TANK FACTORY in SF which became 360 Spear/365 Main).
    - cosmicray 16y ago
      > You only really need in excess of that for rooms full of batteries. Behold, racks of crossbar switches (from one such AT&T facility). I'm glad these things are pretty much a relic of the past. I suspect the weight of those racks was one reason for the floor load ratings. http://long-lines.net/places-routes/MoundsOK/DSC00536A.html http://long-lines.net/places-routes/MoundsOK/DSC00536A.html
daten 16y ago
It looks like 2000 of those bunkers were sold back in 2002 for $25,000 each. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/230203 http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/230203 Here's a map with links to pictures of 5 of the nuclear hardened sites. http://coldwar-c4i.net/ATT_Project/index.html http://coldwar-c4i.net/ATT_Project/index.html
- rdl 16y ago
  You can also just buy old (ICBM) missile silos; unfortunately, they are often in pretty bad repair, flooded, and may contain PCBs or asbestos. http://www.silohome.com/atlas_f_missile_silo_for_sale_ultimate_survival_shelter_2012_shelter_fallout_.htm http://www.silohome.com/atlas_f_missile_silo_for_sale_ultima... is a particularly nice example of a residential conversion, though. Moses Lake, WA has a site which got used for ToorCamp, a hacker conference, a couple years ago. http://joachimp.fotki.com/events/toorcamp/page4.html http://joachimp.fotki.com/events/toorcamp/page4.html
  - yankeeracer73 16y ago
    Wow, I had no idea these were available to be purchased as private homes/land. I now have my new f-you money goal! :)
  - duck 16y ago
    Sometimes the flooded ones are the best... you can go diving in this one: http://www.dtmag.com/dive-usa/locations/TexasMissileSiloTX.html http://www.dtmag.com/dive-usa/locations/TexasMissileSiloTX.h...
mkramlich 16y ago
> I wonder what AT&T uses all that extra floor space for now. ... to comply with the Patriot Act.
Retric 16y ago
I don't know about now, but my father spent Y2K in an AT&T bunker as "essential personnel." So my guess is they are probably still in use. Not necessarily because of the nuke resistant part so much as self contained with generators and on-site security measures.

pak 16y ago

I don't think you were referring to these, but there are actually a few windowless, fortified concrete skyscrapers in New York that were built as telephone switching centers. Here's one in Lower Manhattan that is 29 stories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street They were likewise designed to withstand nuclear fallout. Because telephone switching equipment has shrunken over the years they now rent out some of the floor space as a hosted ultrasecure datacenter.

nkassis 16y ago
That building looks like something right out of blade runner.
- Devilboy 16y ago
  The article calls it 'extreme brutalism' http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=33+Thomas+Street,+manhattan&sll=-33.886413,151.118261&sspn=0.022836,0.016201&g=33+Thomas+Street&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=33+Thomas+St,+New+York,+10007,+United+States&ll=40.716799,-74.00565&spn=0.000966,0.001523&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=40.716799,-74.00565&panoid=kxOcRk6jH3sMR-4XaNyn1w&cbp=12,208.86,,0,-36.67 http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...
cosmicray 16y ago
> I don't think you were referring to these, but there are actually a few windowless, fortified concrete skyscrapers in New York that were built as telephone switching centers. Actually no. The ones I'm referring to were (usually) built way out in rural areas, where they were away from the expected blast area of a hit on a major city. The one I'm aware of is built mostly underground, then backfilled so that it looks like a natural hill (a hill with a concrete top, and a big microwave tower). Some of these facilities were rumored to have ground entry points for a system called Combat Ciders ... http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/combat_ciders.htm http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/combat_ciders.htm
Pfiffer 16y ago
> The floors are also unusually strong, designed to carry 200 to 300 pound per square foot (10 - 15 kPa) live loads. This is pretty much the coolest thing I've seen all day. I'm not sure what kind of standards buildings are held up to in terms of load-per-foot-squared, but that seems like an awful lot to me. That building is incredible.
- rdl 16y ago
  Most purpose built datacenters are >100 lb/sf. You only really need in excess of that for rooms full of batteries. Even generators, while individually heavy, usually have enough spare space around them that the overall loading in the room isn't approaching banks of batteries. Most datacenters which are in excess of that were either originally built for telcos (crazy battery banks for the DC plant), or were industrial (e.g. the TANK FACTORY in SF which became 360 Spear/365 Main).
  - cosmicray 16y ago
    > You only really need in excess of that for rooms full of batteries. Behold, racks of crossbar switches (from one such AT&T facility). I'm glad these things are pretty much a relic of the past. I suspect the weight of those racks was one reason for the floor load ratings. http://long-lines.net/places-routes/MoundsOK/DSC00536A.html http://long-lines.net/places-routes/MoundsOK/DSC00536A.html

daten 16y ago

It looks like 2000 of those bunkers were sold back in 2002 for $25,000 each. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/230203 http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/230203 Here's a map with links to pictures of 5 of the nuclear hardened sites. http://coldwar-c4i.net/ATT_Project/index.html http://coldwar-c4i.net/ATT_Project/index.html

rdl 16y ago
You can also just buy old (ICBM) missile silos; unfortunately, they are often in pretty bad repair, flooded, and may contain PCBs or asbestos. http://www.silohome.com/atlas_f_missile_silo_for_sale_ultimate_survival_shelter_2012_shelter_fallout_.htm http://www.silohome.com/atlas_f_missile_silo_for_sale_ultima... is a particularly nice example of a residential conversion, though. Moses Lake, WA has a site which got used for ToorCamp, a hacker conference, a couple years ago. http://joachimp.fotki.com/events/toorcamp/page4.html http://joachimp.fotki.com/events/toorcamp/page4.html
- yankeeracer73 16y ago
  Wow, I had no idea these were available to be purchased as private homes/land. I now have my new f-you money goal! :)
- duck 16y ago
  Sometimes the flooded ones are the best... you can go diving in this one: http://www.dtmag.com/dive-usa/locations/TexasMissileSiloTX.html http://www.dtmag.com/dive-usa/locations/TexasMissileSiloTX.h...

mkramlich 16y ago

> I wonder what AT&T uses all that extra floor space for now. ... to comply with the Patriot Act.

Retric 16y ago

I don't know about now, but my father spent Y2K in an AT&T bunker as "essential personnel." So my guess is they are probably still in use. Not necessarily because of the nuke resistant part so much as self contained with generators and on-site security measures.