Special Projects


Indianapolis Air Traffic Control Tower

Sometimes we are asked to go to “great lengths” or “great heights” to accomplish an installation.

As the wall systems contractor Blakley Corporation met the challenge of installing unitized panels 348’ off the ground at the Air Traffic Control Tower.

Blakley’s installed a unitized glass and metal panel system with louvers. It was an exterior installation requiring a hoist machine that was specially adapted to lift the 10’ tall panels, one panel at a time, to their position 348’ off the ground. A mechanic manned the spider basket to control and maneuver the unitized panel the full height. Each panel was curved and segmented. More men “met” the panel “at the top” and secured it to the structure.

The weather was the biggest challenge to completing the project. It was soon discovered that the panels could not be installed in winds greater than 15 mph. A wind gauge became standard equipment and weather reports were closely followed to schedule a crew of twenty men and work which spanned three months and many days of rain and wind.

The new Air Traffic Control Tower is one of the tallest in the world at 348’. It is 200 feet taller than its predecessor.