Tinian Island enters information age

Tinian Island, located in the Northern Mariana Island chain in the Pacific, is the new home to a Voice of America (VOA) radio relay station. The United States Information Agency, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., chose Tinian as the site to build a new radio relay station to transmit its VOA broadcasts. The VOA currently broadcasts more than 900 hours of programming weekly in 47 languages, including English, to an international audience.

Hanson was selected by the prime contractor SHBC to design the new Tinian Radio Relay Station, including buildings, roads, antenna field and power plant on the 800-acre site. The new station supplements broadcasts from the Philippine Islands and Thailand relay stations and improves broadcasting coverage to listening areas in China, Indonesia and other areas in the western Pacific.

During this project, Hanson designed the following:

Transmitter and administration building
Antenna field
Power plant
Fuel storage facilities

Here are highlights:


Transmitter and administration building

This building consists of three transmitter bays, a matrix switch room, electrical and mechanical equipment rooms and a control room. Hanson designed the facility to allow for future expansion of the entire station including the three transmitter bays. The building’s air conditioning systems consist of water chillers and air handling units with variable air volume fans. This system is designed to conserve energy and contains high-efficiency filters to protect the station’s sensitive electronic equipment.

Antenna field

The antenna field consists of 14 to 17 guyed antennas up to 400 feet tall with strung curtains between 8 to12 antennas. Before developing the antenna field, Hanson conducted a geological investigation at the site. During this investigation, the firm identified areas of known or suspected solutioning caverns and sinkholes. Because of these caverns and sinkholes, Hanson's team members rearranged the radio station’s layout to avoid locating the antenna fields over these high-risk areas.

Power plant

The power plant is designed to supply power to the entire island of Tinian, including the VOA radio relay station. Here are highlights: