Newspapers / State Port Pilot (Southport, … / Oct. 26, 1955, edition 2 / Page 1
Part of State Port Pilot (Southport, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Sunny Point SPECIAL No. 15 A Good Newspaper In A Good Community Souvenir EDITION Volume No. 17 SOUTHPORT, N. C. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1955 PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY $1.50 PER YEAR SUNNY POINT ARMY TERMINAL IS PIONEER JOB Aerial View Of Dock Area READY—This is a view of one of the completed wharves at Sunny Point Army Terminal. This is only one of the three concrete piers that comprise the waterfront shipping facilities at the government in stallation on the Cape Fear river near Southport. The terminal embodies the latest safety features and is the first of its kind to be constructed in the United States. Proclamation By Governor The new Sunny Point Army Terminal will be officially dedicated on Saturday, October 29, 1955 with appropri ate ceremonies to be held at this tremendous new facility. The Sunny Point location in Brunswick County is the first ammunition terminal of its type to be built on the At lantic Coast and provides the very latest planning and mechanical features designed to offer utmost security for property and protection for employees as well as that sec tion of the County. We have in North Carolina many installations ope rated by the Armed Forces of the United States and we are well aware of the many contributions which these facilities add to the life and economy of our State. We are pleased to have this new, large industrial establishment located in our Southeastern Coastal area. I am sure that Sunny Point will receive the cooperation and assistance of all our people as it goes about its vital mission of handling and loading ammunition for the defense of the Nation. In recognition of the dedication of this new Army facility, I hereby designate Saturday, October 29, 1955, as SUNNY POINT ARMY TERMINAL DAY in North Caro lina. OCTOBER 21, 1955 LUTHER H. HODGES, Governor. Proclamation By Mayor WHEREAS: The Dedication of the newly completed Sunny Point Army Terminal will take place on 29 and 30, Octob er, 1955, at the Terminal; AND WHEREAS: The ceremony will include a formal trans- j fer of the Terminal from the U. S. Army Corps of Engin- ; eers, represented by Colonel Raymond L. Hill, Wilmington District Engineer, to the U. S. Army Transportation Corps, represented by Colonel William A. McAleer, Commanding Officer of the Sunny Point Army Terminal; AND WHEREAS: ounny Point Army Terminal incorporates the ultimate in construction, planning, safety features and operational efficiency known to date, besides representing i a great expenditure of public funds and concentration of military know-how, and its operation will reflect favor ably in the economies of surrounding communities; NOW, THEREFORE: As Mayor of the City of Southport, I do hereby, proclaim 29 and 30, October, 1955 as “Sunny Point Army Terminal Days” and issue such proclamation to newspapers and other media and do urge all citizens to attend the Dedication Ceremony on 29, October, and the Open House on 29 and 30, October, 1955. This 24th, October, 1955. ROY ROBINSON, Mayor City of Southport. Sunny Point Terminals Occupy Historic Site The selection of this site on the west bank of the Cape Fear River, some 10 miles from the1 Atlantic Ocean, in September 1950, was preceded by many stir ring events in the Cape Fear re gion, which legend and history have preserved for us In March 1524, 32 years after j Columbus’ discovery of the New World, the first white man visit ed the shores of what is now North Carolina. Verazzard, the Florentine navigator, in the serv ice of France, reached land in latitude 34 degrees, which in geo graphy of today passes 15 miles below Wilmington. These waters have served na tive Indians, English explorers, Spanish privateers, pirates, Con federate blockade runners, Union Naval forces, Scottish immigrants, and merchants of the area. Here, in 1766 .armed resistance to enforcement of England’s Stamp Act constituted the first hostile action by colonists against rule by George III. Across the River, the capture of Fort Fisher by combined Naval and land forces in 1864 dealt a decisive, economic blow to the Confederacy. A dozen miles up the River are located ship yards and a reserve fleet of the Maritime Adminis tration, which served admirably in the last World War. Brunswick is a concentration point for the curious Venus Fly Trap and other carnivorous plants. The Cape Fear River, said to have been known to the Indian aborigines as “Sapona,” later to the explorers and to the promot er’s in England as the Charles | Kiver, and the Clarendon River, j is formed at the junction of the i Haw and Deep Rivers in Chatham County, N. C. The first trading on the Cape Fear River of which we have i any recoru was by a party of j adventurers from Massachusetts i in the year 1660. The historian I Bryant says: ‘There were prob ably few bays or rivers along the coast, from the Bay of Fundy to Florida, unexplored by the New Englanders, where there was any promise of profitable trade with the Indians. The colonists follow ed the trader wherever unclaimed lands were open to occupation. These energetic pioneers explored the sounds and rivers south of Virginia in pursuit of Indian traf fic, and contrasted the salubrity I of the climate and the fertility of the soil with that region of! rocks where they made their | homes, and where winter reigns j for more than half the year. In 1660 or 1661, a company of these men purchased of the natives and settled upon a tract of land at1 the month of the Cape Fear River. ! Their first purpose was apparent ly the raising of stock, as the country seemed peculiarly fitted to grazing, and they brought a number of neat cattle and swine to be allowed to feed at large under the care of herdsmen. But they aimed at something more than this nomadic occupation, and a company was formed, in which a number of adventurers in Lon don were enlisted, to found a permanent colony. The most au thentic account of the first setlle t Continued on Page 3) Sunny Point Is Result Of Long Range Planning The Sunny Point Army Ter minal is located on the west side of Cape Fear River, 15 miles south of Wilmington, and four miles north of Southport. It is near, but not a part of, Wilming ton Harbor. Construction on the terminal was started by the Corps of En gineers in December 1952. It is the first example, in the entire history of port construc tion in this country, of a terminal constructed for the primary pur pose of outloading ammunition with compliance given to quantity safety distance requirements. Estimated cost of the terminal is $22,800,000. All of the funds have been appropriated by Con gress. The terminal is the standard three-wharf type, designed for use at other locations as well as at Sunny Point! When completed, the Sunny Point Terminal will be operated by the Army Transportation Corps. It will be under the di rection of the New York Port of Embarkation. It will have its own commanding officer and sup porting staff. The Wilmington District of the Corps of Engineers, headed by Colonel Raymond L. Hill, has been directly in charge of construction of the project. In turn, the Wil mington District is under the di rection of the South Atlantic Di vision of the Corps of Engineers, headed by Brigadier General Henry J. Hoeffer. The terminal is reached by ocean-going ships by way of an extension to the deep water’ chan nel to Wilmington Harbor, which is also on Cape Fear River. Dredging operations for the chan nel extension involved the remov al of 18,000,000 cubic yards of spoil. These operations were com pleted in mid-1954. The channels are 34-feet deep by 300-feet wide, and broaden to 800-feet opposite each wharf to provide turning basins. Three ingress-egress routes permit vessels to navigation with out coming in close contact with other vessels. The three wharves are identical in design. They are 2,200 feet long by 87-feet wide with deck and piling of reinforced concrete. Each wharf is serviced by rail road tracks with three tracks on the wharves. Each wharf will accommodate two ships under normal conditions, three in an emergency, for a total of six or nine as requirements warrant. The terminal will be able to load 10,000,000 pounds of ammu nition at one time on one ship. In the terminal area is a class ification yard with a handling ca pacity of 780 railroad cars of Continued On Page Three Safety Record At Sunny Point By W. B. KEZIAH One of the most outstanding things in relation to the con struction of the huge Sunny Point Army Terminal that thou sands will be visiting this week, is the fact that there have been an almost complete lack of ac cidents to workmen employed in the undertaking. The terminal was completed with no loss of life (no fatal ac cidents) and only 23 accidents resulting in the loss of only S49 days from work by those injured. Employees performed a little over 3,000,000 (375,000 days) manhours of work with an ac cident frequency rate of 7.69 ac cidents over each million man hours worked and a severity rate of .21 days lost for each 1,000 manhours worked. These overages fall far below the national average for con struction. The national Safety Council says for 1954 the average was 17.29 accidents for each million manhours performed and 2.29 days lost for each 1,000 manhours of work performed. This in the same order as fore going paragraph. A comparison of these figures show the Sunny Point record to t>e outstanding, it stems from close supervision by both con tractors and government inspect ors and definite adherence to the safety program laid down by the Corps of Engineers for the protection of human life. Around twenty-eight million dollars have been spent thus far in the undertaking. In about ( Continued On Page Five ) *....—.. ... I Every Precaution Has Program THE NATIONAL ANTHEM Honors and music by the 440th Army Band, Fort Bragg. j INVOCATION By Chaplain Ivan L. Bennett (Major General, USA-Ret), former Chief of Chaplains, United States Army. WELCOME TO SUNNY POINT ARMY TERMINAL By Brigadier General James Glore, Commanding General, Atlantic Transportation Terminal Command. GREETINGS By the Honorable Roy Robinson, Mayor of Southport. GREETINGS By the Honorable Dan Cameron, Mayor of Wilmington. GREETINGS By the Honorable Luther H. Hodges, Governor of the State of North Carolina. INTRODUCTION OF DISTINGUISHED GUESTS GREETINGS FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY By the Honorable Frank H. Higgins, Assistant Secretary of The Army for Logistics and Research and Development. ADDRESS By the Honorable F. Ertel Carlyle, U. S. Representative for the 7th Congressional District. CEREMONY OF TRANSFER By Major General Charles G. Holle, Deputy Chief of Engineers For Construction, for the Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army. ACCEPTANCE By Major General Paul F. Yount, Chief of Transportation, U. S. Army. ; EXCHANGE OF FLAGS BENEDICTION By Chaplain (Captain) Karl F. Earheart, Fort Bragg. Good Electrical System Installed By JAMES W. LEWIS •Electrical Engineer, Wilmington District Corps of Engineers The primary eelctrical distribu tion system, like other major fea tures of the Sunny Point Army Terminal, is designed to meet all requirements peculiar to this par ticular type of installation. This includes such factors as a salty seashore climate as is usual for this latitude, heavy electrical loads at the extremities of the system, intermittent loads along the line including pumping stations, house lighting, street lights, flood lights, telephone communications, five public address systems, and air raid warning sirens covering op erational areas. The highest conventional volt age for electrical distribution sys tems is 12,470 volts. Utilizing this voltage would have required .522 inch wire conductor to provide suitable voltage regulation. A study of a 23,000-volt system re vealed that it would meet all re quirements and at the same time reduce the conductor size to .204 inch, thereby affording an 80 per cent reduction in primary conduc tor cost. Further study of the basic principles of electrical de sign indicated that a 23,000-volt system would be equally attrac tive from both a construction and operational point of view. A non-corrosive conductor1 with high tensile strength was desired, so steel-reinforced aluminum con ductor, equivalent in conductivity to the .204-inch copper conductor with a special treatment against corrosion, was chosen. With the ever increasing loads and expansion of large military bases, 23-000-volt electrical sys tems offer a solution. Where con versions to this voltage are made, the available power is proportion al to the ratio of the square of the existing voltage to the square of the new voltage. The reduc tion in primary conductor weight, in terms of copper, amounted to over 36 tons by employing the higher voltage. By using alum inum instead of copper, 58 tons of copper were conserved, al though there are approximately 16 miles of primary electrical dis tribution line and 10 miles of street light circuits. Electrical Services Each wharf is provided with a substation reducing the distribu < Continued On Page Five) ! A military milestone has reared a commanding head in North Carolina’s flatlands on the State’s historic Cape Fear River. Not even calculating Adm. Por ter and daring Gen. Terry, con querors of gallant Fort Fisher in ’65, would believe, were they here today, that this paradise for hunt ers and fishermen would ever be more than a mecca for gun and rod devotees. Certainly they had nothing good in view when their combined Naval-ground assault broke the Confederate back anu doom for all time the South’s great cause. Now, some 90 years later, the Army has come up with a spe cialized facility across the old Cape Fear just west of the bas tion that held Porter and his predecessors at bay for over three years. Tliis is the Sunny Point Army Terminal (SPAT), a vast three wharf (2200 feet each) project backed up by a 70-mile railroad system on land to the west and channels 34-feet deep on the east leading to the Atlantic Ocean southward past dormant Fort Caswell and Bald Head Island. The Terminal takes its name from old Sunny Point Plantation on that existed here for years dating back to Colonial days. Official correspondence will bear the Sun ny Point Army Terminal title, but “Sunny Point” it is and will continue to be, popularly, come what may. Constructed by the Wilmington District of the Corps of Engi neers, the Terminal will be dedi cated in a joint program October 29 with appropriate ceremonies and turned over to the Trans portation Corps which branch will operate it as a unit of the At lantic Transportation Terminal Command (ATTC), the latter until recently the New York Port of Embarkation. Born of Congestion, and per haps frustration too, at existing ports on the Atlantic Coast, Sun ny Point combines not only the most modern thinking in design and construction but also lessons leai*ned the hard way by both makers and handlers of munitions. It is designed for the movement of munitions from land carriers to deep water cargo vessels with the greatest protective contrivances for personnel and property that man has been able to devise. There was a time when human life was a secondary matter in getting on with the job. Times have changed. Manpower has be come a potent factor, a first con sideration. Numerous catastrophes mark the folly of loading ships at ports located in heavily populated areas. It is not contended that this new type of terminal is the final answer, safety-wise, in the hand ling of hazardous materials. It is maintained, however, that SPAT is the safest facility of its kind and purpose ever built. There are many reasons, many features which substantiate the conviction. ( Continued On Page Six ) Loading Hazards Led To Building Terminal For many years, military auth orities have been concerned about the hazards of loading ammuni tion into ships for transportation to points around the world and during times of actual combat as in World Wars 1 and II. Generally, these loading ter minals have been, and are, lo cated in populated areas where a serious explosion could cause deaths, injuries and property dam age in adjoining civilian residen tial areas. The disaster that could always happen was tragically experienced in World War II at Port Chicago, California, part of the San Fran cisco Harbor area. There, on July 17, 1944, explosions occurred of l three and a half million pounds ! of ammunition in railroad cars i | on the pier and in the holds of a ship. They resulted in the death of 320 persons, injuries to 390 others, and property damage of $13,000,000. (In World War I, two similar disasters occurred, the Black Tom, New York Harbor, ex plosions of July 30, 1916 killing two persons and causing damages of $40,000,000, while in Canada at Halifax, Nova Scottia, on June 12, 1917, explosions killed 1,600, injured thousands and caused damages of $50,000,000. Military circles have developed a plan of “quantity safety dis tances" which, if followed at all ammunition loading terminals, j would preclude the possibility of a disaster such as occurred at Por t Chicago. Under this plan, j a "safe" terminal would require approximately 20,000 acres. The I civilian population would be kept | outside the perimeters of the twenty thousand acre terminal area, and beyond the point where they could be touched should an unforeseen explosion occur in any part of the area or in the ships being loaded. It was immediately apparent that existing terminals could not be expanded to meet the quantity safety distance requirements with out involving the purchase of ex tremely high-priced land and the displacement of many families. Such expansions would also be come involved in public contro versies as to the need of enlarge ment in the particular area and, moreover, would ignite political ramifications resulting from any such contemplated actions. To give two examples: l Continued On Page Five)
State Port Pilot (Southport, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 26, 1955, edition 2
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75