Evening star., 1939-06-30
Navy Accepts Testing
Basin al Carderock
From Contractors
Installing Of Precision
Equipment Will Be
Started at Once

Five months ahead of schedule,
the David w. Taylor Experimental
Model Basin. Carderock, Md, has
been accepted by the Navy Depart
ment from the Turner Construction
Co. of New York, contractors, and
installation of precision testing
equipment necessary to speed the
great naval expansion and merchant
marine programs will begin at once,
it was announced today.
Design and test work which will
be made possible through use Of the
facilities of the new multiple basin
system at Carderock is regarded as
vital to progress in the science OF
shipbuilding upon which the Navy
must depend for future naval and
merchant marine superiority.
The Navy long since has outgroWn
the 40-year-old model testing basin
at the Washington Navy Yard and,
despite the assistance of the Uni
versity of Michigan, which has its
own testing plant, has been handi-
capped in design work for its ex-
pansion program and that of the
Maritime Commission.
For this reason, naval officers
made no secret of their satisfaction
over the early completion of the
Carderock buildings, which, under
the terms of the contract, were
scheduled for delivery to the Gov
eminent about November l.
Extreme Accuracy Required.
Installation of the precision equip
ment in the building is expected to
require nearly another year, chiefly
because of the extreme accuracy
necessary in the laying of rails for
the high-speed electric towing car
riaee along the 1,000-foot high-speed
basin. These rails must conform ac-
curately to the curvature of the
earth's surface throughout their
length to prevent errors in test
readings.
Construction of the model basin
has been carried on under super
vision of George F. Ferris for the
Turner company and 1t. Comdr
Hugo Carl Fischer, Navy Civil En-
gineering Corps, who on January %,
1888. relieved Comdr L. B. Combs,
in charge during early development
of the site. Both men were being
commended for the speedy compile
ton of their task in spite of a juris-
dictional labor dispute which held
up construction for several weeks
last year.
The Navy Department began ac-
tive work on the detailed designs for
the Carderock basin in 1888 to meet
future requirements for the national
defense program. Plans and specifl-
cations were completed in 1896 and
Congress appropriated 50 5000 900 for
construction in the Naval Appropria-
tion Act for the fiscal year of 1893
and since has provided an additional
$500,000 The contract was awarded
to the Turner company August 3,
1887 and work commenced Au-
gust II.
The plant comprises naval reser-
vation Of approximately LOG acres
near Cabin John. Md. and includes
an Office and administration build
ing. sewage disposal plant, basin
building and other utilities. The
Carderock site, about five miles west
Of the District of Columbia line, was
selected because it provided solid
rock foundations at shallow depths
for the basins and structures.
Unusual Design Features.
The construction involved several
unusual design features, including
a hinged concrete arch roof over the
main basin. the development of
which won an international archi-
tectural award for Rear Admiral Ben
Moreell, chief of the Navy Bureau
of Yards and Docks. The project
also is one of the first examples OF
large rigid frame reinforced con-