Click photo for larger image. (02963)
Missile Site Control Building is topped out
Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site
Facebook post, 12 October 2025
Concrete pouring was rapidly performed during summer months against winter deadlines, however heat could prove detrimental to the curing process causing concrete to dry too rapidly.
This could result in a weaker finished product (something to be avoided when hardening structures against nuclear blasts). In late June 1970, a history noted that 600 pounds of
ice were being added to every seven cubic yards of mix to slow the curing process. At peak, 45 tons of ice were being used per day. A dedicated water cooling system later aided
in the process. 33,000 cubic yards of concrete were eventually used in the construction of the pyramid, along with 3,465 tons of steel.
Efforts were made in 1970 to top out certain floors of the Missile Site Radar Building near Nekoma and the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Building near Cavalier so that
contractors could perform work more comfortably in the winter months. A good spring in 1971 meant that both structures (and their associated power plants) were largely complete
by the end of that year. Weapon system contractors moved in soon thereafter.
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