Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels, 3930 U.S. Route 23 South, Piketon, Pike County, OH. Surveyed as HAER OH-142-A, with a 1,219-word written history.
“The X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels serve as a buried corridor used to carry the piping and wiring for control instruments and communications equipment between the process buildings and the Plant Control Facility.”
Written record, HAER OH-142-A survey. Machine-read text.
surveyed by the federal HAER program as HAER OH-142-A · the record runs 1219 words · one of 30 surveyed structures published for this county.
Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OH-142-A. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.
Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS), U.S. Route 23 South, Piketon vicinity, Scioto Township, Pike County, Ohio The X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels are located at Ohio State Plane South coordinates at easting ft, northing ft and at Universal Transverse Mercator Zone easting m, northing m. The coordinates represent the approximate center of the Plant Control Facility. These coordinates were obtained on November by plotting the building s location in EnviroInsite The accuracy of the coordinates is +/- 12 meters. The coordinate datum is North American Datum Date of Construction: Designer/Builder: Peter Kiewit Sons Construction Company Previous Owner: N/A
Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OH-142-A. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.
The Atomic Energy Commission oversaw construction and operation of PORTS until when the Energy Research and Development Administration was established with responsibility for research and development duties from In the U.S. Department of Energy was established, overseeing operations at PORTS.
Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OH-142-A. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.
The X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels serve as a buried corridor used to carry the piping and wiring for control instruments and communications equipment between the process buildings and the Plant Control Facility. The tunnels also served other miscellaneous communications, electrical wiring, and piping systems at PORTS. The X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels are significant to PORTS for their ability to physically and electronically connect the process buildings and switchyards with the main Plant Control Facility. A main function of the tunnels was to provide operators in the Plant Control Facility with instant monitoring capabilities through the indicating and control instruments in each process building. PORTS was a part of the U.S. Cold War nuclear weapons complex.
PORTS primary Cold War era mission was the production of highly enriched uranium by the gaseous diffusion process for defense/military purposes.
Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OH-142-A. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.
Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth LLC photographed the site in August Gray & Pape, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, served as the primary author of the historical narrative and resource descriptions drawing from numerous PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, X-220A INSTRUMENTATION TUNNELS HAER No. OH-142-A (Page 2) historical records and reports, drawings, photographs and plans. For additional contextual information, see Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, HAER no. OH-142. This X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels HAER was completed in PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, X-220A INSTRUMENTATION TUNNELS HAER No. OH-142-A (Page 3) Part I. Historical Information In support of this report, there are two appendices: Appendix A and Appendix B, consisting of survey photographs and historical drawings, respectively.
Construction History of the X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels: The X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels were built in the original phase of construction of PORTS, which occurred from to Historical drawings of building plans are included in Appendix B (Figures 7 through 8). Part II. Site Information Description of the X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels: The X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels consist of a buried corridor used to carry the piping and wiring for control instruments and communications equipment between the process buildings and the Plant Control Facility (Appendix A, Photograph A-1). Five branches of the tunnels extend westward. Two of these branches serve the Process Building with the remaining three extending to the Process Building.
Another south branch extends through the Process Building and connects with the control house of the Electrical Switchyard. A branch to the north extends along the north side of Twentieth Street and turns west through the center of the Process Building and terminates in the Electrical Switchyard control room. The X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels are constructed of reinforced concrete flooring, walls, and ceilings (Figures The concrete is approximately 1 foot thick with a waterproof membrane on the top of the tunnels. The tunnels are approximately 8' wide by 8' tall. The tunnels parallel the Process Building and Process Building for most of their length, measuring to a total length of approximately long.
In certain places, up to three tunnels were built side-by-side, splitting off at points to service their various buildings. Racks line each wall of the tunnels and consist of shallow cement-asbestos trays 3'' deep and wide. The racks rest on adjustable brackets affixed to the walls of the tunnels and support piping and wiring running the length of the tunnels. Manual access is preserved in the center of the corridor for maintenance. Lighting is provided to the tunnels by ceiling-mounted waterproof fixtures every Tunnel floors slope slightly to allow for drainage of any seeping water into a sump pump. Primary access to the X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels was provided through at least seven headhouses spaced fairly evenly along the tunnel corridor.
The headhouses are small, above-ground, reinforced- concrete structures with a metal entry door at ground level and a shaft with a ladder reaching down into the tunnel on the interior. Where tunnels were built side-by-side, headhouses extended for the tunnels entire width, with separate rooms accessing each individual tunnel. The walls of the headhouses are approximately 8'' thick and ceilings are 7' tall. The utilitarian structures have no stylistic detailing and feature slightly sloped flat roofs. Some headhouses feature electric exhaust vents protruding from the roof to provide ventilation to the tunnels below. Additional fresh air is supplied to the tunnels from the Plant Control Facility and from the control rooms at the terminals of the tunnel branches.
Secondary access to the tunnels is provided through manhole covers spaced approximately apart for the length of each tunnel, and at branch intersections and changes in alignment. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, X-220A INSTRUMENTATION TUNNELS HAER No. OH-142-A (Page 4) Part III. Sources of Information Department of Energy. The Role of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Cold War History. Piketon, OH: U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Energy. Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Report for the Process Buildings and Complex Facilities Decontamination and Decommissioning Evaluation Project at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio, DOE/PPPO/03-0245&D3. Piketon, OH: U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Energy.
National Historic Preservation Act Section 110 Survey of Architectural Properties at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Scioto and Seal Townships, Piketon, Ohio, DOE/PPPO/03-0147&D1. Piketon, OH: U.S. Department of Energy, January Giffels & Vallet, Inc. Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Portsmouth, Ohio, Project History and Completion Report (Redacted). Washington, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, X-220A INSTRUMENTATION TUNNELS HAER No. OH-142-A (Page 5) Appendix A: Survey Photographs Figure 1: Location and Orientation of Instrumentation Tunnels PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, X-220A INSTRUMENTATION TUNNELS HAER No.
OH-142-A (Page 6) Figure 2: X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels, August Direction Unknown Figure 3: X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels, August Direction Unknown PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, X-220A INSTRUMENTATION TUNNELS HAER No. OH-142-A (Page 7) Figure 4: X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels, August Direction Unknown Figure 5: X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels, August Direction Unknown PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, X-220A INSTRUMENTATION TUNNELS HAER No. OH-142-A (Page 8) Figure 6: X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels, August Direction Unknown PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, X-220A INSTRUMENTATION TUNNELS HAER No.
OH-142-A (Page 9) Appendix B: Historical Drawings Figure 7: Plans, Sections and Elevations of Headhouses for Instrumentation Tunnel PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, X-220A INSTRUMENTATION TUNNELS HAER No. OH-142-A (Page 10) Figure 8: Plans, Sections and Elevations of Headhouses for Instrumentation Tunnel
| Piketon, Ohio | The place record: every map, photograph and survey of this town. |
| Pike County, Ohio | 83 topographic sheets across the county. |
| Library of Congress record | The original filed report as the survey filed it. |
The federal surveyors worked through Piketon building by building. These are the other structures they measured and filed a report on, longest report first.
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