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Birdseye view of the 14,000-ton forge press foundation pit, South Unit, 1/26/1920

DESCRIPTION:

Presumably taken from a structural girder or overhead crane, this unique angle unfortunately leaves to the imagination conditions in the pit being dug for the 14,000-ton press foundation. According to diagrams from engineer Roger Freeman's report to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the foundation pit was 60-feet deep. Several workers here are perched around the pit's edge, as block and tackle and a crane cable extend down into the darkness.

 

CAPTION:

"Birdseye View of Foundation for 14,000 Ton Press, Forge Shop - U.S. Armor Plate Plant, S. Charleston, W.Va. June 1st - 1920 - Photo C. 22-"

 

DATE:

1 Jun 1920

 

SUBJECTS:

Forge & Furnace Building (309-310)

 

CONTEXT:

The Forge & Furnace Building, originally designed with 25 furnaces, a number which more than doubled in 1941, when Carnegie-Illinois Steel leased the South Unit from the Navy and lengthened the structure. When the NOP was sold to FMC Corporation in 1961, a testing track for FMC's M113 armored vehicles was created around Building 309-310. Aluminum flatcars were also produced here until 1965 as part of FMC's railcar production line. Today the facility houses the central machine shop for Appalachian Power and a distribution facility for UPS.

 

SOURCE:

National Archives, RG71-CA, Box 99, Folder D

 

CREATOR/ORIGIN:

Unknown / Unknown

 

MEDIUM:

Photographic print, black & white

 

COPYRIGHT:

None known

 

DID#:

14x18_71-CA-99D_C22_055

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Uploaded on March 11, 2019