First Atlanta Tower Microwave Relay Power Backup

As the tallest building in Atlanta, the First Atlanta Tower was the natural choice for communications equipment. International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) built a microwave relay station atop the building to relay signals from New York to the entire Southeast. To ensure those signals were not interrupted by power outages, Yancey Bros. Co. delivered a 300kW Caterpillar 3408 diesel engine generator set.

Getting the 10,000-pound generator to the top of the building required a helicopter, and because the helicopter could lift only 3,500 pounds at a time, the generator was disassembled into three loads: the base and radiator, the generator, and the engine. As it turned out, the engine weighed too much for a single trip, so it had to be broken down further, removing the manifolds, turbocharger, starter, flywheel, and air cleaner.