Winds damage key facility Published April 19, 2010 By Laurie Arellano Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- The air traffic control tower at Minot AFB was damaged by high winds April 14. Operations were not affected, and the 5th Civil Engineer Squadron placed temporary repairs on the facility to ensure it remains operational. According to Tech. Sgt. Thomas Doerner, 5th Operations Support Squadron weather flight, winds on April 14 peaked at 42 knots. The 5th CES took immediate action on the damaged area as soon as the damage occurred and began repairs when wind died down the following day. "With high winds there is always the potential for facility damage, especially with older buildings," said Lt. Col. Roland Secody, 5th CES chief of operations. "When damage does occur, our first priority is to isolate the area so that additional damage doesn't occur." Colonel Secody said the experts first provided some expedient protection to an electrical panel until the rain and wind subsided enough to make repairs. The colonel said the damage to the tower is estimated at $20,000 and repairs are expected to be completed by the end of the month. Repairs to the facility continued through the weekend and included first removing a damaged wall panel and covering the area with sheets of oriented strand board. The base sheet metal shop is installing flashing to cover the seams of the repairs, and eventually, new siding will be installed to fully enclose the repairs. Sergeant Doerner said the winds last week are not unprecedented. "April is historically windy because we get strong temperature differentials as we start warming up," he said. But, he added, winds are a fact of life for Minot. "We live in a wind box," he said. "Simply put, certain areas more prone to winds than others, due to geographic features and up here it's because the terrain is so flat there is no way to block the wind." Because the existing tower was already leaking and sways in the wind, a new Air Traffic Control complex, projected to cost about $18.8 million, is currently budgeted for fiscal year 2011. Design for the new tower is already in progress and a separate base operations building is also scheduled to be built. Once both are complete, the old facilities will be demolished. According to Sergeant Doerner, base personnel can continue to expect high winds year-round. "It's unusual to lose building parts, but it's not uncommon to see winds such as that," said the sergeant.