Ogden Arsenal, Igloo Type Magazine, East Side of Pine, between Georgia & Maine Streets, Layton

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER UTAH,6-LAY.V,1AC-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Building provides particularly vivid insight into the processes involved in the storage of highly explosive components like munitions. In addition, this building contributes to an understanding of the U.S. Army build-up which occurred on the eve of and during World War II. History: Building was constructed in as part of the WPA Arsenal reconstruction after a windstorm destroyed most of the original Arsenal buildings. It was designed to store 100 pound Amatol/TNT bombs that were manufactured at Ogden Arsenal. Igloo Type Magazines such as Building stored ordnance material and were designed to minimize damage to additional buildings in the event of explosions. The igloo is covered with an earthen mound and separated from surrounding buildings by open land.

A concrete apron with a sharp slope upward from the entry made fork lift operations outside igloos like Building a difficult task, so all ordnance material was loaded by hand until That year, a process was developed that kept automatic electric fork lift trucks with combination forks inside the igloos while a conveyor track was laid from rail cars or trucks into the doorway. Both small arms ammunition and bombs were handled in this way, which saved approximately one half the time previously used by hand loading alone, with half as many workers. Ogden Arsenal, Igloo Type Magazine HAER No. UT-84-AC Page 2 Building is identical in structure and function to Building Electrical wiring and lights were added to both of these buildings during World War II.

General Description: Building x is an example of a Truncated Trapezoidal Igloo, located in the eastern edge of the main igloo storage area, originally known as the Magazine Storage and Warehouse Area. This type of igloo consists of one double door entry, set on a truncated trapezoidal wall which tapers back into an earth mound that covers three of the building's exterior walls. The walls, floor, and roof are made of reinforced concrete. The entry features an explosion-proof door with a mitered top edge. A single lamp is located on the west wall above the doors. The concrete door frame protrudes slightly from the face of the wall, with the top two edges of the frame slightly overhanging the vertical pieces.

A metal vent rises through the earthen mound from the igloo at the east end of the building. Ogden Arsenal, Igloo Type Magazine HAER No. UT-84-AC Page 3