Designed to withstand a nuclear attack— including an overpressure of 500 psi and four Gs of shock— the Super Combat Centre / Direction Centre was built some 560 feet below Reservoir Hill. The design consisted of three underground caverns excavated from the rock: two measured approximately 400 by 45 feet, and up to 70 feet in height, each holding a three-storey freestanding structure that housed the SAGE equipment. The third, slightly smaller, cavern contained power plants and support facilities to make the complex selfsufficient. Two underground water reservoirs were also dug out, one for domestic use and the other to provide emergency air conditioning for the computers. Two separate tunnels( one a mile long, the other half a mile) would provide entry into the complex.
DCL also arranged the contracts for the BOMARC bases: total costs for storage and launching facilities at North Bay and for storage, launching and living facilities at La Macaza, Quebec came in at $ 10 million and $ 15 million respectively. Both bases came online at approximately the same time, in August 1962, in the midst of a national public debate about whether or not Canada should be adopting nuclear weapons.
Other CADIN projects included connecting 25 existing Pinetree radars to the SAGE system, establishing seven new heavy radars in Canada( including Moosonee, Ont.) and upgrading existing radar stations. By 1963, the work was complete and the bill for the Canadian portion of the CADIN program was totalled at $ 82.7 million.
The Moosonee Bowl Moosonee, Ont., 1959— Bob Givens On arriving for the first time at Moosonee, I was required to write a Site Inspection Report for the clearing and drainage project to be contracted that autumn …( so) I inquired at the OPP office whether I could be shown the location. Corporal Hart drove me in his Jeep as close to the site as possible. He instructed me to cross the first creek, proceed to the second creek( but not cross over), to turn west and to go about three fourths of a mile. I was then to search for survey markers, always looking out for bears.
I thought it likely that Corporal Hart was pulling my leg about the bears … Anyway, I crossed the creek, a feat which required taking my wallet out of my pocket before wading through water above my waist. Proceeding towards the second creek through dense bush with muskeg underfoot, I noticed a trail heading northwest. I took it, and after a couple of minutes of much easier walking, lo and behold, I saw a black bear ambling toward me in the distance. My first thought was to vacate the environs immediately— but which way should I run, how far should I go and how long should I stay? I suspected that the bear wouldn’ t follow the trail for long, so I decided to tarry awhile and hide in yonder bushes. Poking my head out after a couple of minutes, I noted that the bear was still coming …( and) was carrying an axe. Every good engineer knows that Godivas may ride horses but bears don’ t carry axes.
BREAKING NEW GROUND DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA
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