Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1920-01-02
WORLDS BIGGEST
NITRATE PLANT
Mammoth Explosives Factory
in Alabama Built in
Eight Months.
ALL SPEED RECORDS BROKEN
Could Supply 13 Per Cent Of
Allies Needs Had War
Continued.
BY GARRETT SMITH.

Lifting the ban of war secrecy has
just now brought to light for the first
time one of the most stupendous featS
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 city around it
for the housing of its 5000 Workmen
and their families At the same time
Is revealed one Of the chief reasons
why Germany suddenly surrendered q
year ago. The German high command
knew that the United States was
ready at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 70
manufacture 10 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 or construction
work reached Muscle Shoals on No
vember %, 1917. On February 1G
1918. ground was first broken for a
permanent plant hstIGing. On 0cto-
Der 20, 1918, eight months and eight
days later, the misunderstanding 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 to pro-
vide the huge army sic I'2Inc! 10
raise The very taoe that our indus
tries were already worried 70 capacity
providing ammunition to The allies
seemed to make further production for
our own use impossible.
Fertilizer Process Turned TO War Use.
At this 1uncture the ordnance De
partment turned to cyanamid. com
mercial fertilizer, which had for some
years been produced successfully at
Niagara Falls, by Il process tie Alneri-
can rights of which We're obtained liz
1907 from Germany ny Frank Sher
man Washhurn, head of the American
Cyanamid Company.
BY this process eEana1nid was pro.
duced by extracting nitrogen from the
air and combining IT with calcium cb-
tanned from limestone rocll ARD carbon
from coke. By putting yyaLamt!
through three more processes ha'h ann
monia and nitric &eld caL Oc e&traetcd
from it and combined into the eXFlO-
sive, ammonium nitrate. Mr.. Wash
burn was invited to present plans and
estimates for the construction in the
shortest possible time of an ammonium
nitrate plant at Muscle Shoals, Ala
bama, and q contract between his COM
pany and the United States was enter
ed into under date of November is,
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 tho
plant. 1t also installed all eQu.plnr. ,
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 a new
town to house the lahorerS. For this
lob Westinghouse Church Kerr Com
pany was called in as contractor. This
company also built the buildings of the
chemical plant. Within four months
l. lN,l
and a city capable of accommodating
25,OOO inhabitants had been completed,
with lodging, restaurants, stores, Of
fees, police headquarters. schools. fire
departments, hospitals, motion picture
theaterx, 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
monium nitrate. The plant contains
113 permanent buildings, with roof
area Of over % acres.
To provide the electric current it
was necessary to build steam power
electric plant. for it would have taken
three years or more to complete the
dam and hydro electric station now IN
der way. This plant. built by the J. G.
White Corporation, is one of the larg-
est steam plants for developing cleo
trical energy in the world
The output of the plant is 800 tons OF
ammonium nitrate a day. and this can
he produced at Muscle Shoals at q cost
less than one-half the standard fixed
price paid by the Government for am
moisium nitrate produced by other
methods and one-fourth to one-fifth the
cost of other high explosives of equal
strength. Compared with the older
process of making ammonium nitrate
he savings made by this plant would
have paid the $60,000,000 cost of the
entire plant in about one and one-half
years of operation.
AS military weapon 1t 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
ton to the country its value Is incalcu
liable
y
Tho Ravens Warning
Tradition has 1t that all the calami-