Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-09-14
MUCH BUILDING
At LOCAL PLANT
Morrell & Co. Erects New
Power Plant and Installs
Massive Ice Machine

~SNSAy - A~~ AsASSNAsA.sS
Among the improvements that have
been made in Ottumwa this year In
the way Of various kinds of building,
perhaps no concern has done quite so
much as the Morrell packing plant,
where 1t would seem that construction
Of one kind or another has been under
way almost continuously. In fact
there Is some type of building or al
teration always under way at the i'm
mense plant in the east end.
This year, however, an unusual
has been under way and is still un-
finished although some of the work
is almost completed. In the building
carried on at the packing plant this
summer hundreds Of thousands Of
brick have been used. Thousands of
sacks Of cement and thousands of
specially made tile, the latter for the
massive new smoke stack that towers
more than 200 feet in the air. q.
Massive Smoke Stack.
The new stack Is especially con-
structed of tile that Is filed with con.
crete and reinforced by iron rods, both
upright and encircling the layers OF
tile. The whole construction rests
upon a massive concrete base or found
alton that has many hundreds Of bags
of cement used In its construction
The stack towers 200 feet and four
inches high and an iron ladder runs
up both outside and inside the huge
chimney. For sixty feet from its base
a second or inner chimney Is erected
to protect the stack proper from the
intense heat as it comes direct from
beneath the boilers. The inside space
at the bottom measures seventeen
feet and three inches in diameter and
graduates down to eleven feet at the
top. The great height and interior
size Of the stack gives 1t immense
draft to aid the big furnaces beneath
the boilers that supply steam power
to the plant. This work is merely an
addition to an already large power
plant or plants for the energy used
to make the electricity and supply the
huge amount Of steam needed at the
big concern requires two power sta
tions of which the work being com
pleted Is but an addition to the second
plant.
New Boiler Room.
The new boiler room is 40x60 and
when completed will be equipped with
two boilers that will furnish an addi
tional 1000 horse power to the already
big power capacity. This building is
an addition built on to the east end
Of the power house located near the
beef plant. Room is provided for fu
ture additions in the way of boilers as
those to be installed will not take ur
but a small portion of the building and
the new stack will accommodate sev
\ eral more boilers.
| Install Bia Engine.
The new engine room is 60x60 and
located on the south and west Of the
power house making an L of the build
ing, the large stack being in between
the two new additions The engine
J room IS very massive and tons Of
heavy structural steel are used in its
construction because Of the immense
weight of the engine and it's various
parts that are carried in the building
and the coils Of piping on the roof that
are used In process Of condensing the
ammonia and making the refrigera
tion. The big engine just installed
but which is not yet ready for use, Is
the biggest machine Of any kind ir
these parts and is known as the Bal
Giant ice machine and compressor
having an ice making capacity Of 50(
tons daily. Some idea OF the magni
tude of the massive machine may be
cleaned when 1t is known that the
present ice making or chilling capac
ity of the packing plant is now 75(
tons daily and the new engine will in
crease it to 1850 tons. Many tons Of
concrete were used in building the
foundation for the engine alone ant
although the work has been In prog
ress all summer, it is probable tina
snow will be falling before the entire
new plant will be in operation.
Numerous other construction jobs
have been under way this summer a
the big packing plant, but the new
power additions have been the chic
Improvement and have supplied {
large amount of work to local labor