Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-04-12

OF prefabricated units. The units
measure l6x28 feet and are 10
feet high. They were built one
by one at construction camps at
each site in the Eastern end of
the line and at factory" at
Point Barrow. Alaska. in the
Western sector. Then they were
towed on sledges to their final
locations-sometimes hundreds
OF miles across the frozen Arctic.
Interiors Described
Bolt five such units together
and you have a small fixed
beacon radar site. Twenty-Five
units produce rotating beacon
site. Fifty units in two parallel
trains" is a combined radar site
and area supply depot
The interiors of the units are
modified to become living quar-
tiers. recreation rooms. kitchens,
power rooms. radar rooms and
so forth. Moisture is kept out
of the glass wool insulation be-
tween the walls by lining walls.
floors and ceilings with a thin
sheet of plastic. Room-to-room
electrical interference is blocked
off by lining every room with
copper screening.
Despite the intense Arctic
cold. no money is spent on
heating. An ingenious system
of blowers takes waste heat from
the generators supplying power
TO the radar sets and keeps
the whole train" comfortable.
To keep heated buildings from
melting the permafrost fro
zen earth-and dropping into a
sea of muck. they are perched
on wooden stills over insulating
pads of four to six feet of gravel.
Fire Is Big Hazard
Buildings are painted with fire.
resistant paint. and each con-
tains its own chemical freight
ing equipment. Frequent metal
f1re-breaks are inserted between
units making up the building
trains. Fire. Of course, is a great
hazard. In the snowy Arctic
there is water, water every
where" but none of it is avail
able for firefighters in unfrozen
form.
Sewage is stored in huge tanks
that just about fill one unit in
each building. Each summer
these wastes will be hauled away
and dumped in closed barrels in!
q lake or in the Arctic sea.
Vehicles freeze up in a minute
in the Arctic winters. so they are
kept running "a hours day. It
is cheaper to run them than to
thaw them out.
One of the real surprises of
the DEW line construction job
was the discovery that men could
work through the Arctic winter
with reasonable efficiency. Mark
ham Cheever. boss of conStruc-
ton in the eastern sector Of the
DEW line. said his men threw
away the established efficiency
charts that showed individual eff
fectiveneSs hit zero at the same
time the thermometer dropped
to that point.
DEW line workers kept going
through many degrees of sub
zero temperature, quitting only
on the coolest days or when
there was a high wind.
Cold Drains Energy
The cold drains a lot Of en-
ergy from the workers. They
make it up by eating more. The
construction camps have a good
reputation for food, and the
meals wolfed by the reporters
were first-class.
A mess hall boss at a conStruc-
ton camp here said his men eat
2i2 pounds of meat a day and
many eat four or five full meals
daily. Mess halls are open "a
hours.
Workers live in framed tents
which are crowded, but quite
warm. Some of the experienced
construction men said living con-
ditions actually are better in
these Arctic camps than in most
stateside construction sites.
Most of the workers in the
Alaskan sector Of the DEW line
are old pros at the construction
game. but many amateurs are
found in the Canadian sector
young men who want TO work a
fivp-rnnnth toilr and % home