Evening star., 1941-02-01
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON,
Star staff Correspondent.

Star staff Correspondent.
DETROIT, Feb. Inside the
biggest box the world has ever seen,
a box composed of acres of COM
position board and tar paper, the
Ford Motor Co. today is completing
by building processes new to Amer
lea giant S2l000,000 factory in
which it will build aircraft engines
for national defense.
BY constructing the new factory
inside its mammoth box, Ford en-
gineers are able to insure continuous
construction, "a hours a day, re-
gardlesS of weather or darkness.
The building is heated even before it
has walls or floors and temperatures
inside the box can be controlled TO
permit pouring of concrete in the
coolest of Michigan weather.
The composition board and tar
paper shell is constructed around
the building about 10 feet outside
the finished wall line and goes up
as soon as the steel framework is
in position, all the remainder OF the
building being built in shelter by
the heat of great charcoal braziers.
Framework Completed.
This great building, measuring
$50 by 1000 feet, is in itself testi-
monial to the driving force behind
the defense program. Bedrock along
the River Rouge is between 95 and
11O feet below ground level and,
although construction of the plant
began only last October, the foun-
dations and steel framework are
completed and the entire building
is to be completed next month. 1t
is being built progressively from one
end to the other and the front end
will be occupied and working before
the other end is finished.
The entire building will be air
conditioned, not only to insure en-
ploye comfort and efficiency but to
make certain that changes OF tenn
perature will not affect precision
machining operations on engine
parts. There will be no windows in
the shop sections of the building,
though windows have been provided
in the outer walls for Offices and
service sections of the plant, which
will line the outer walls.
Location of these less vital faclh-
ties around the outer wall space also
Is intended as a measure of protec-
ton against the possibility of seri-
Gus damage to shops and machines
in case of bombardment. The con-
crete roof is S inches thick but the
ceiling of the first floor Is II inches
Of heavily reinforced concrete and
the ground floor is IL inches thick.
The service tunnels carrying all
electrical conduits are below the
ground. To reach them, a bomb
would have to penetrate nearly a
yard of reinforced concrete. Bombs
now in use or prospect will not get
through that protection, Ford engi-
neers feel confident. on the basis of
studies made in England, unless re-
peated hits are made in the same
spot.
First Floor Reasonably Secure.
With the outer blanket of Offices
and service rooms and % inches of
concrete overhead, the vital first
floor is expected to be reasonably
secure against critical damage from
anything but the heaviest and most
prolonged attack. What Is more,
the outer walls carry no part of
the building load and their collapse
will not affect the floors or main
building structure. European ex-
perience shows that walls usually
are subject to more heavy bomb
damage than other portions of the
structure, collapsing due to concus-
sion effects.
Studies were made of the posi-
bility of locating the working space
in bombproofs under ground, but
the plan was abandoned in favor of
the present arrangement, which is
expected to be nearly as safe and
far more practical due to the neces-
sity of high ceilings to provide space
for the scores of craneways which
are being installed to carry loads
in every section of the plant. No
man will have to carry load from
one bench to another in any part
of the factory. Cranes of all sizes
are available for this purpose.
The building is constructed in
separate sections, which are not
structurally Joined, to provide for
expansion and contraction in
changes Of weather. This is neces-
sary in so large building to pre-
vent structural damage and to pre-
vent throwing the craneways out
of line.
Many of the building innovations
are the work of George Morgan,
superintendent of construction, who
was employed on major construc-
ton projects in Russia for seven
years. The "box shelter" type of
construction was developed there to
make possible any kind of building
in the heavy Russian winters.