Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-12-28
Greenland Air Base
And Bay Span Listed
Among Feats Of 1852


among the worlds great engineer
ing feats of 1852, the National
Geographic Society reported today.
Long -ranging aircraft forced
airport construction to the ends
of the earth, taxing the ingenuity
Iof engineers of many nationalities.
Pipelines conquered the deep
waters of New York harbor. the
wilderness of Argentina and the
mountains of the West.
New roads ranged from the
Jersey Turnpike to a 40-mile
penetration of Brazil's Matte
Crosse jungle beyond the last
civilized outpost on the River of
Death.
The society's annual engineer
ing report even tells of thousands
of workers toiling on road from
Red China's Sinkiang province
toward Lhasa, Tibet.
Thule The Ultima.
The Society gives top-billing to
the vast sprawling air field at
Thule, Greenland, built as a joint
project of the United States and
Denmark at a cost of some 1858
million.
It involved such problems as
building airstrips and hangers
on permanently-frozen ground,
weatherproofing for temperatures
as low as 60 below zero and de-
velopment of electronic equipment
immune to compass-jumbling ct
fects of the Northern Lights.
t Designed as military base pri-
marily, Thule already has proved
its commercial Importance. Two
Scandinavian transports pioneered
la top-of -the-world route from
California to Northern Europe,
using Thule.
It is only $50 miles from the
North Pole.
Denmark and Canada also fig
ured in frigid airport construction,
the Danish governments second
Greenland base to serve the lead
mines at Mestersvig and Canada S
all-weather jet field north OF
North Bay, Ontario.
Wide Airport Range.
Other airport construction and
improvement ranged from Pitts
burgh's new $33-million field to
Tampa. Charlotte Amalie in the
Virgin Islands; the Cocos Islands
in the Indian Ocean. Borneo
Uganda and Ladakh, Kashmir.
| The bay bridge, built for about
$45 million, was the longest of
three soaring, over-water spans
completed during the year. One
OF the three was the SO million
George P. Coleman memorial
bridge over Virginia's York River.
Austria and Yugoslavia were
further linked by a new bridge
over the Muir River; The Belgians
rushed work on new span over
the Meuse at Namur and Canadian
engineers were bridging the DON
Ijek River on the Alaskan highway.
In Korea. Army engineers opened
a high-level span over the Imjin
north of Seoul.
Pipelines Expanded.
Expansion of pipelines-one a
unique project which pumps
nickel-copper ore concentrates
like petroleum for seven miles to
a reduction plant in Ontario-was
among the years big under
takings.
In the United States, a line
tapping new northern oil fields
began carrying crude from Wyo-
ming to Illinois and another takes
petroleum from Wink, Tex, to
Norwalk, Calf.
Texas oilmen put a 6,600-foot
gas pipeline under the narrows of
New York harbor for one of the
longest deepwater crossings ever
attempted.
In Venezuela, SIS million was
spent for a single pipeline and
! Argentina went 1000 miles to
bring natural gas from the oil
fields of Comodora Rivadavia to
the homes and industries of
BuenoS Aires.
The worlds big construction
projects also included new tun-
nels. one the Baltimore & Ohio's
underground passage near Blue
field. w. Va. It is the worlds
largest, but not the longest. The
railroad also opened a smaller
tunnel near Clarksburg, w. Va.
In another tunnel. traffic has
started pouring through the tube
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