The Washington herald., 1922-07-09
ROSSLYN PLANT
FURNISHES VAST
BUILDING NEEDS
Steel and Cement Firm
Has Mammoth Equip
ment for Activities.
SIZE ASTOUNDING
Company's Plant Is Excep-
tionalfy Capable of Han
ding Large Contracts.
SIZE ASTOUNDING

Those who have motored around
Washington streets and avenues in
the last few months have discovered
that Washington is building-indeed
building is going on at such a tre-
mendous rate at the present time
that the new construction itself, II
segregated, would constitute a fair
sized city. Rows OF homes, business
buildings and apartments. some Of
the latter of tremendous size, are
sprinslng up where only hills and
valleys and vacant spaces existed
last winter.
Few people who view the con-
srruction industry as it exists here
today take time to pause and won-
der where all the materials used
come from and how they are ham
died and distributed. The other day
the writer had occasion to visit
spot in Washington where Rock
Creek, the canal, the river and the
X streets. Not having visited this
locality for several years the piano.
rama here unfolded caused a feeling
OF wonderment as well as surprise.
Here to a great degree is found me
answer to the supply service needed
Tor Washington's great building in
dGstry as well as industries in other
lines, such as the District of CO.
lumbia Paper Manufacturing Com
pany, Wilkins-Rogers milling plant
and the great power plant of the
Capital Traction Company impressed
this neighborhood with its tremen-
dous tonnage activities lying COM
paratively secluded by the peaceful
surroundings of the city.
Great sand and grav' barges
constantly arriving and their con-
tents being quickly transferred to
loading bins where seventeen trucks
can be loaded in a minute: train
loads of lumber. cement and steel
arriving and being emptied by enor-
nous power devices and the cease
less throbbing OF HUNDREDS of motor
trucks whisking their loads away
To the streets and avenues which
are being built up.
One point in particular so at
tracted the writer's attention by its
magnitude and atmosphere of sctiv-
ity that he sought permission to be
taken through. This was the plant
of the Rosslyn Steel and Cement
Company. This plant. covering an
area of more than one-half a city
square. typifies to a greater extent
perhaps than any other similar
plant in America the great progress
which has taken place in the last
years in this particular branch of
the building industry. In answer
to questions about certain machines
which were duplicating the work of
small army OF men. it was .x-
planned that these were invented
designed and built especially f-r
this Washington plant. Here were
viewed concrete elevators like those
seen in great grain shipping cen
tiers. but instead of grain these
elevators are used for storing ce-
ment-5O,OOO barrels of cement in
one group. enough cement to pretty
nearly supply two buildings the size
of the War Risk or one building
the size Of the Munitions group if
It were fifty per cent larger than
II actu. l,y is; cement enough to be
protection against shortages
caused by railroad or mil strikes for
a long time to come; conveyors to
load trucks at the rate of two tons
minute and a machine with a ca
pacity OF filling thirty bags or one
and one-half tons every minute.
At another point in this i'm
pressive plant was seen racks con-
bars for reinforcing concrete. me-
chanical euipment for loading and
unloading the racks and shaping
the bars into all the mysterious
forms they must assume before the