Bilby tower

A Bilby tower is a type of steel survey tower used by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1927 to 1984.[1] It is named after Jasper S. Bilby who designed it in 1926.[2] In 1927, Herbert Hoover, the then Secretary of Commerce commended Bilby's tower "for its cost and time efficiency" and cited the surveyor's service as "essential to the United States government".[3]

Bilby tower under construction in 1927
Completed Bilby tower showing inner tower for instrument isolated from outer tower for surveyor access

Features

The Bilby tower has two unconnected parts – an internal tower for mounting surveying instruments and an external tower for surveyors. This separation allowed for isolating the instruments from the vibrations induced by people, which increased the precision of measurements.

It was portable, reusable and quick to assemble and dismantle. Its quick erection made it possible to conduct surveying rapidly.[4]

The last Bilby tower

The last remaining tower at St. Charles Parish, Louisiana was dismantled by the Surveyors Historical Society (SHS) in 2012 and re-erected in 2013 at the Osgood Trails Park in Osgood, Indiana, the birth town of Bilby.[5]

See also

References
  1. Administration, US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric. "Survey Towers: Bilby Tower". celebrating200years.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  2. Administration, US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric. "Bilby Towers". celebrating200years.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  3. ": Bilby Steel Tower". www.in.gov. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  4. Administration, US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric. "Historic Traveling Bilby Tower 'Comes Home' to Osgood, Indiana". oceanservice.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  5. "Bilby Tower Dedication Honoring Jasper Sherman Bilby - xyHt". xyHt. 2014-08-21. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
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