A Texas Tower lighthouse is a structure, similar to an off-shore oil platform

Oil platform

An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...

, used as a platform for a lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

.

Examples

The first example in the United States was the Buzzards Bay Light, located in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

Buzzards Bay is a census-designated place in the town of Bourne in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. The population was 3,549 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Buzzards Bay is located at...

, and commissioned on November 1, 1961. Six other Texas tower lights were constructed:

Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

• Brenton Reef Light
  Brenton Reef Light
  The Brenton Reef Light was a steel tower lighthouse at the entrance to Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, south of Beavertail Point. Erected to replace a lightship in 1962, it was decommissioned in 1989 due to its deteriorating condition.-History:...
  
  

New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

• Ambrose Light
  Ambrose Light
  Ambrose Light, often called Ambrose Tower, was a light station at the convergence of several major shipping lanes in Lower New York Bay, including Ambrose Channel, the primary passage for ships entering and departing the Port of New York and New Jersey....
  
  

Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

• Chesapeake Light
  Chesapeake Light
  Chesapeake Light is an offshore lighthouse marking the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Once considered for decommissioning, it remains active and supports a NOAA weather data site.-History:...
  
  

North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

• Diamond Shoal Light
  Diamond Shoal Light
  Diamond Shoal Light was an off-shore lighthouse marking Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras.-History:Diamond Shoals, which extend many miles out from Cape Hatteras, is considered to be one of the most dangerous spots on the Atlantic seaboard. While a light was exhibited from the cape itself from 1804,...
  
  
• Frying Pan Shoals Light
  Frying Pan Shoals Light
  Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower is a decommissioned lighthouse located approximately southeast of Southport, North Carolina.The light tower is modeled after a steel oil drilling platform, known as a “Texas Tower” on top of four...
  
  

Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

• Savannah Light
  Savannah Light
  Savannah Lighthouse was a lighthouse in Georgia,United States, off the entrance to Savannah River, Georgia. It was the second tower to be demolished after a collision with a foreign-flagged freighter.-History:...
  
  

Design and construction

These lights were all constructed at offshore stations previously served by lightship

Lightvessel

A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship which acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction...

s. An attempt to set a caisson light

Caisson lighthouse

A caisson lighthouse is a lighthouse whose superstructure rests on a concrete or metal caisson.Caisson lighthouses were developed in the late nineteenth century as a cheaper, more efficient alternative to screwpile lighthouses; they could better withstand harsh weather, and were not as fragile...

 at Diamond Shoals off the North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 coast in the late 1880s showed that the techniques of the day were not adequate, and it was not until the 1960s that the Coast Guard attempted to replace the lightships with permanent structures. By that point, experience with offshore oil drilling platforms provided a model.

The six lights were similar in form and, excepting the first, nearly identical in construction. Each consisted of a framework of four steel, concrete-filled piles driven deep into the ocean floor, upon which a square platform was set. This platform contained the living quarters and was assembled from a set of modules. A tower was attached to one corner and housed the light. The roof of the living quarters formed a helipad

Helipad

Helipad is a common abbreviation for helicopter landing pad, a landing area for helicopters. While helicopters are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where a helicopter can safely...

; a dock was also provided low on the framework. The name of the station was displayed on a large sign on each side of the light, on the side of or just below the platform.

The quarters provided living space for six regular crewmen plus three transients. Normally, four crewmembers were on duty at a time, with regular rotation to shore. In addition to monitoring and maintaining the beacon, the crew also operated weather reporting equipment.

Automation and decommissioning

While these towers have stood against any storms thus far, two of them have fallen victim to ship collisions. In 1996, Ambrose Light

Ambrose Light

Ambrose Light, often called Ambrose Tower, was a light station at the convergence of several major shipping lanes in Lower New York Bay, including Ambrose Channel, the primary passage for ships entering and departing the Port of New York and New Jersey....

 was struck by a Greek oil tanker, damaging it severely enough that it was replaced in 1999 by a new, smaller tower (which itself was struck twice before being demolished by the Coast Guard in 2008). A month after the Ambrose accident, Savannah Light

Savannah Light

Savannah Lighthouse was a lighthouse in Georgia,United States, off the entrance to Savannah River, Georgia. It was the second tower to be demolished after a collision with a foreign-flagged freighter.-History:...

 was completely demolished when a container ship struck it.

By that time all of these stations had been automated, beginning with the Diamond Shoals Light in 1977. Inspection of the (then) survivors revealed that four out of five showed substantial deterioration. Brenton Reef Light was demolished in 1992 and replaced with a buoy. The Buzzard Bay Light was demolished and replaced with a smaller tower in 1996; the Diamond Shoals and Frying Pan Shoals lights have been extinguished. The Diamond Shoals Light was sunk and turned into an artificial reef

Artificial reef

An artificial reef is a human-made underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, control erosion, block ship passage, or improve surfing....

. The Frying Pan tower still stands and is a popular fishing and diving location. Chesapeake Light was retrofitted with solar panels and is the only such tower in active service.

The design of the lights is considered obsolete since there is no longer a need for the structure to house the keepers. In 2002-2003, the Chesapeake light tower was used by University of Maryland students for research assignments.