Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1919-12-25
WORLDS BIGGEST
NITRATE PLANT
Mammoth Explosives Factory
in AIabama Built in
Eight Months.
ALL, SPEED RECORDS BROKEN
Could Supply 10 Per Cent Of
Allies Needs Had War
Continued.
ALL, SPEED RECORDS BROKEN
BY cARRET SMITH.


OF construction in history-the plan
ming and building in less than one year
of the largest ammonium nitrate plant
in the world and Of a city around II
for the housing Of its $4,000 workmen
and their families. At the same time
is revealed one >of the chief reasons
why Germany suddenly surrendered a
year ago. The German high command
knew that the United States was
ready at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. to
manufacture Is per cent Of all the
high explosives needed by all the AL
lied armies ON all fronts in the expect
ed drive of the following spring.
The first person on construction
work reached Muscle Shoals on No
vember &c 1917. On February 16.
1918, ground was first broken for q
permanent plant building. On Octo-
Der 90, 1918, eight months and eight
days later, the manufacturing plant
had begun the production of ammo
mum nitrate.
When America entered the world
war In April, 1917. she had no means
of producing the enormous quantities
of high explosives necessary 10 pro-
vide the huge army she planned to
raise. The very fact that our indus
tries were already worked to capacity
providing ammunition to the allies
seemed to make further production for
our own use impossible.
Fertilizer Process Turned to War Use.
At this juncture the Ordnance De-
partment turned to cyanamid, COM
mercial fertilizer, which had for some
years been produced successfully at
Niagara Falls, by process the Ameri-
can rights of which were obtained In
1907 from Germany by Frank Sher-
man Washburn, head Of the American
Cyanamid Company.
BY this process cyanamid was pro-
duced by extracting nitrogen from the
air and combining it with calcium OBJ
tanned from limestone rock and carbon
from coke. BY putting cyanamid
through three more processes both am
monia and nitric. acid can be extracted
from it and combined Into the explo-
siye, ammonium nitrate Mr.. Wash
burn was invited to present9pians and
estimates for the construction In the
shortest possible time of an ammonium
nitrate plant at Muscle Shoals, Ala
bama, and contract between his COM
pany and the United States was enter
ed into under date of November 16
1917.
To have general supervision of plan
ming and carrying out the work an or
ganization known as the Air Nitrates
Corporation was formed TO act as
agent Of the Ordnance Department
This corporation provided the general
designs, supervised all the work and
operated the camp, the town and the
plant. It also installed all equipment
in the chemical plant. The various
other sections of the work were sub
let to organizations that were special
lists in the directions In which they
were asked to help.
New. City Built From the Ground.
It was necessary to build new
town to house. the laborers. For this
Job Westinghouse Church Kerr. Com
pany was called in as contractor. This
company also built the buildings of the
chemical plant. Within four months
$4,000 workmen had been assembled
and a city capable Of accommodating
25,O00 inhabitants had been completed,
with lodging, restaurants, stores, of
fees, police headquarters. schools, fire
hospitals, motion picture
theaters, electric light and sewerage
systems
The construction Of the plant proper
was begun on February is, 1918 just
eight months and eight days later the
big plant began steady output Of am
nitrate. The plant contains
118 permanent buildings, with a roof
area Of over 90 acres.
To prgNide the electric current II
was necessary to build steam power
electric plant, for 1t would have taken
three years or more to complete the
ttlln anu HNuTO-tltttIiC Stutioh lioW uu-
her way This plant, built by thesJ. G.
White Corporation, r. one Of the larg-
est steam plants for developing cleo
rrical energy in the world
The output of the plant Is 300 tons Of
nitrate day. and this can
be produced at Muscle Shoals at cost
less than Onehalf the standard fixed |
price paid by the Government for am.
nonium nitrate produced by other |
and one-fourth to one-fifth the |
cost OF other high explosives Of equal |
Compared with the older
of making ammonium nitrate,
he savings made by this plant would |
have paid the $6O000,000 cost of the
entire plant in about one and one-half |
years of operation. '32'.
AS a military weapon it is one Of the
wisest and most economical expendi.
lures that the Ordnance Department
has undertaken. As an agent in stop.
ping the war and as future protec.
lion to the country its value is incalcu
able.