Evening star., 1938-10-02
WORK ON AIRPORT
STARTS THIS WEEK
Dry and Wet Fills TO Be
Made From Land and
River Sides.


available and the long-sought project
is expected to be well under way be-
fore the end Of the week, 1t was an
nounced yesterday by Col. W. Sumpter
Smith, chairman of the Air Safety
Board of the new Civil Aeronautics
Authority.
Simultaneous dry and wet fills will
be made from the land and river sides
OF the future airport by workers and
dredging crews Of the Army Corps Of
Engineers, according to present plans.
The need for an airport here is
urgent and we are proceeding on an
emergency basis" Col. Smith said.
The filling of the Gravelly Point site,
now well-defined as a result of river
dredging operations which have placed
1850 900 cubic yards Of wet fill in the
area, probably will require between IL
and IS months, Col Smith estimated.
The sites of the future paved run
ways will be completed first, probably
with heavier top fill than the re-
mainder Of the field.
Detail Plans Prepared.
Preparation Of detailed plans for
the field layout now is in progress
This plan includes the runway lay
out and location of buildings, field
lighting equipment, control tower, ra-
dio facilities, servicing installations,
parking areas and other features.
The matter Of relocating approxi-
mately one mile Of theMount Vernon
highway along the shore side of the
airport also Is being studied by men,
bers Of the newly created airport COM
mittee and ofncials of the Bureau of
Public Roads. Whether the highway
will be moved back to clear the air.
port entirely or dropped beneath the
end Of one Of the runways at the
southwestern corner Of the airport
through = tunnel remains to be
settled.
In the meantime, Washington Air
port will continue to operate with
out change, Samuel j. Solomon, gen.
eral manager. announced.
There is still a question whether
the airlines are going to be able to
operate from Gravelly Point" Mr..
Solomon said. There will be seri-
ous traffic problem because of the
proximity of Gravelly Point to Boil
ing Field. 1 have seen the results
Of this traffic congestion in the oper-
alton Of Washington Airport and we
are considerably farther from Boiling
Field than the Gravelly Point site"
Unified Traffic Control.
Army Air Corps officers, who for
merly opposed the Gravelly Point de-
velopment for this reason, have agreed
that the problem could be solved by
unified traffic control This would
necessitate handling military and air
transport traffic as though it originat-
ed from a single airport, under certain
wind conditions.
Although Mr.. Solomon has received
a number of offers for parts OF WASH
ington Airport for residential, COM
mercial and industrial purposes during
the last several years, they have all
been rejected.
I'VE are not likely to consider such
offers as long as We can continue to
operate an airport here, and we ex-
pect to continue our present opera
tions indefinitely" Mr.. Solomon said.
One of the offers, it is understood,
was made by a concern which sought
and adjoining Boundary Channel on
which to construct an apartment
house or group Of apartments over
looking the river and parkway. An
other company sought major por-
ton of the airfield with view to
developing a race track. the project
hinging upon the passage of necessary
enabling legislation by the State Leg
stature.
Although the history of the Gravelly
Point Airport site traces back offl-
cially to the summer of 1926, when
the Office of the Army engineer tor
the local district prepared estimates
totaling S2,6O0,000 for development OF
l2O-acre unit there, its history ac-
:ually began much earlier.
Goes Back to \l21.
A. Reed Towner, Wo11 War Army
oilot, credited with haviog drafted the
hrst Gravelly Point bill, introduced in
the House December S, 1926. by former
recalled yesterday that actual consid-
Grafton of the Gravelly Point plan goes
back as early as 1921. Among those
active in fostering the project between
that time and 1926, when it gained
official recognition. he recalled, were
Henry A. Berliner, later to become
famous as an airplane designer and
Hvyt Sn T
N. r., now secretary of the Aero Club
of Washington, and Lawrence Will
liams, former chairman of the Aviation
Committee of the Washington Board
Of Trade Others whose names Mr..
Towner did not recall also became
actively interested in the proposal be-
fore it was taken up formally by the
Aero Club of Washington early in 1926.
I'VE realized even that early, before
commercial aviation had really begun,
that eventually Washington would re-
quire large airport which could grow
as aviation developed" Mr.. Towner
explained. There were enough of us
who had wartime flying experience
to appreciate the advantages Of the
Gravelly Point site. Naturally, it is
gratifying to see our dreams in those
pioneering days finally coming true.
We still believe thoroughly in the
Gravelly Point SITE despite all the ad-
vances which have been made in air
plane size and performance since
those days"
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