The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-04
|CREOSOT|NG PLANT FULL IF INTEREST One of Ensley's Important New Industries
 D. ,- HOW WORK IS DONE ,+4s i Said to Be the Only Commercial Plant of Its Kind in This
 Section of the
 South
By CRAWFORD PERKINS

l. A late acquisition to Ensley's indus
 trial circle aside from being one of the most interesting, boasts of being the only one of it's kind (for commercial purposes) in this section of the south, the only other plant of like nature be- l ing the one at Slidel1 La.
 Reference is made Il the creosoting plant of the Pioneer Lumber and Creo- soting company on Avenue F and Gen. 1 ter street. The local rival of this plant is that of the Tennessee company which Is located at McAdory on the Birmingham Mineral, near Blue creek, which is used for private purposes only. This interesting industry has been in operation since September. yet few Ensley people know Of 1t. The oper-. ators have been so busy that they have not had time to tell about it. They are creosoting thousands of feet of lum- Der and thousands of telephone poles, fence posts, cross ties and other tim Der, thereby increasing the life of the material ten times over. The fact that ] this plant is supported in the main by another local industry, namely, the Semet-Solvay by-product plant, makes 1t all the more interesting. The plant was erected in September by Fred G. Sheppard, Harry c. Russell and B. B. Stokes at a total cost of about $50, 900. About 25 men are required to handle the plant under full blast. The material Is creosoted by being placed In tie cars made to fit big steel. cylinder 6 feet ? inches in diameter and 76 feet long, into which the lumber is placed. When the lumber is placed the cylinder is filled with creosote from the storage tanks by gravity. Following the treatment the excess creosote which is left is emptied from the cylinder by air pressure, being returned to the gauges are connected with the cyIin- der for the steam pressure, oil pres sure air pressure and for vacuum. The creosote is forced entirely through the timber by pressure. If too much oil is put into the timber the vacuum is used and the excess creosote dried off in such manner that it is clean for handling. About ten pounds to the cubic foot is used at this plant
 Green Iuriher is essentially treated diff ferently than the dry. it being necessary to boil it in the creosote at high pressure in order to force the oil through the sap py material. It is then necessary to use l the drying process, many barrels of water .eing extracted from a cylinder full of | timber. The creosote is purchased
 from the Semet-solVay company, as
 stated, and is conveyed to the plant in
 tank cars which are placed on a siding Connections are made underneath and the ol conveyed to the sunken concrete tanS by gravity then it is pumped into the two storage tanks, which hold 15,o0O gal Ions each
 The life of an ordinary piece of sap pine is reckonsG at about 20 months, yet if it is given a good treatment of creosote. according to the process used here, it | can be made to last about Is years The eieosote penetrates entirely through the material and preserves it. driving out the water and acids and all other watery sub. stances which destroy the fibre. Bun dles of shingles are placed in the cylinder and they are each and every one thor oughly filled with the oil. The company has been creosot.ng hundreds of tele- Ehone poles for the local telephone and trolley companies and they are creosotinr all of the crossties being put down by the Tidewater line. A timber creosoted and placed in water is impregnable to bad effects ,and will exist without injury Il long as 4ime itself The local company Las about 1000 feet of narrow guaee track when they use in conveying their lumber about the yards and from the railroad The officials are all citizens of Icnsie>, except M" Sheppard, who resides in Rir mingham. They are justly proud of their plant and are accommodating in showing tne plant and explaining its mechanism.