In 1942, Loyalhanna Dam went into operation while Pittsburgh factories produced wartime steel and the army relied on 54,000 pigeons. 84 years later, the dam has prevented more than $658 million in flood damage and its cranes are getting a major overhaul

Two 64-ton cranes have been working above Loyalhanna Dam for more than eight decades, moving the massive steel gates that help manage the reservoir during high-water events. Now, the aging machines are getting a major overhaul.

The work comes 84 years after Loyalhanna Dam began operating in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. At the time, the United States was shifting steel, machinery, labor and federal resources toward World War II. Pittsburgh factories were working around the clock to produce steel and other wartime materials, while the U.S. Army Signal Corps furnished approximately 54,000 pigeons to the armed services to carry messages when radios, telephone wires and other communications were unavailable or unreliable, as per a report.