Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1920-01-01
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.

time one of the most stupendous feat
OF construction in hIstory-the plaI
ming and building in less than one yea
of the largea ammonium nitrate plan
In the world and of a city around
for the housing OF its $4,000 workmel
and their families. At the same tim
Is revealed one of the chief reason
why Germany suddenly surrendered ,
year ago. The German high commant
knew that the United States wa
ready at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, t.
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 on construction
work reached Muscle Shoals on No
vember 20, 1917. On February 16
1918, ground was first broken for a
permanent plant building. On Octo-
Der &c, 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 to 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 carbofs
from coke :. BY putting cyanamid
through three more processes both am
monia and nitric acid can be extracted
from 1t and combined into the explo
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 contract between his COM
pany and the United States was enter
ed into under date of November 10,
1917.
To have general supervision Of plan
ming and carrying out the work an or
ganization known az 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. 1t 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.
1t was necessary to build new
town to house the lahorers. For this {
Job westinghouse Church Kerr Com t
oany was called in as contractor. This 5
also built the buildings of the
chemical plant. Within four months a
1000 workmen had been assembled /
md q city capable of accommodating "
3, 900 inhabitants had been completed e
With lodging restaurants, stores, Of S
Ices, police headquarters, schools, fire f
departments, hospitals, motion picture D
heaters, electric light and sewerage
ystems r,
The construction Of the plant proper n
vas begun on February 16, 1918. Just I.
light months and eight days later the :,
tx plant began steady output of am ~
lonium nitrate. The plant contains :,
IS permanent buildings, with roof =,
rea of over % acres.
To provide the electric current Il
as necessary to build steam power
ectric plant, for It would have taken
lree years or more to complete the
am and hydro-el station now un-
sr way. This plant, built by the J. G.
yhite Corporation, is one Of the larg-
It steam plants for developing cleo
cal energy In the world
Tho output of the plant is 300 tons of
nitrate day, and this can
produced at Muscle Shoals at cost
SIS than one-half the standard fixed II
Ice paid by the Government for am. III
onium nitrate produced by other III
ethods and one-fourth to one-fifth the III
ut of other high explosives of equal r
rength. Compares with the older Il
ocess of making ammonium nitrate
e savings made by this plant would
We paid the $50 100000 cost of the
tire plant In about one and one-half ~
nrs uf operation. W
As military weapon II IL one OF the Gil
sest and most economical expendi- IN
res that the Ordnance Department re
$ undertaken. AS an agent in stop "
TX the war and as n future protec, To-
n to the country It's value IL incalcu yo
lie. hi
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