The Michael Unit solves the logistics and security problems associated with linear prison designs by improving security, visibility, and control of all inmates and separating inmates classified as Administrative Segregation from the general prison population. Built on the podular concept, the prison contains central control towers with cell blocks fanning out around them. Corrections officials can see all three dayrooms and every cell door within the blocks; high-tech electronics are used to lock and unlock cell doors or close off individual dayrooms from the rest of the pod. Each pod is self-sufficient, so that inmates leave only to eat and to work. The Administrative Segregation section combines the podular and linear designs; one central control tower and corrections officer oversees each pod. Inmates, classified as assaultive or non-assaultive, have little or no contact with one another. A sophisticated computer system monitors the facility, covering everything from perimeter security to emergency generator power. The security system consists of two perimeter fences, a microwave system, and a sensitive wire system that, when breached, warns the nearest picket, sounds an alarm on the main computer, and flashes a light on the fence. The Michael Unit has been so successful, Texas is constructing two additional prisons with only minor design modifications. Costs were cut by having the inmates do all the metal work in prison shops, double-celling inmates while providing more recreational space, building a large facility, and centralizing the main support systems.