Ogden Arsenal, Loading Line & Assembly Building, 3263 Hickory Avenue, Layton

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

Anti-tank ammunition fuzes were assembled in Building which provides particularly vivid images of the processes involved in the manufacture of munitions at Ogden Arsenal during World War II. This building, along with other structures at the base, renders a unique picture of the U.S. Army build-up which occurred on the eve of and during World War II. History: Building housed the loading and assembly line for fuzes used in anti- tank ammunition that was produced at Ogden Arsenal. The fuze bodies were disassembled, inspected, and reassembled with Tetryl pellets in Building Metal parts such as cartridge cases, projectiles, and fuze components were shipped to Ogden Arsenal from outside manufacturers in a finished state.

Although components used in the loading and assembly of shells had been inspected before shipment to the Arsenal, it was found that a further inspection of critical items like fuze bodies prior to loading would increase efficient production in the loading operation. All dimensions of a representative sample of the inert fuzes were measured and the threads and recesses checked Ogden Arsenal, Loading & Assembly Line Building HAER No. UT-84-AG Page 2 before they were loaded with Tetryl pellets and sealed with glue. (Tetryl is a very powerful explosive that is commonly used in the manufacture of primary and secondary charges for blasting caps.

Because of its very high melting point it was pressed into pellets rather than melted and cast.) Prior to loading the Tetryl, the fuze bodies were stamped with the lot number, date, and manufacturer. Basic stamp presses (which did not include the stamps themselves) were obtained from private manufacturers and modified in the machine shops of Ogden Arsenal. Separate manufacturers provided the various stamps, since the Arsenal lacked facilities for cutting certain types of stamps and stencils. Tetryl pellets were secured in the closing caps of the fuzes with aluminum discs and then screwed onto the fuze body, which contained the firing pin and detonator. Completed fuzes were inspected and packed in fiber containers (50 per container) that were placed in wooden packing boxes (8 per box).

Loaded skids of fuzes were transferred to the Loading Plants for assembly into complete rounds of anti-tank ammunition. General Description: Building x is a one-and-one-half-story building located in the original West Fuze Plant Area. The building is constructed from reinforced concrete shear walls that define 16 20-foot wide bays, forming 16 rooms along its length. The bays of the building contain alternating six and ten-pane windows, as well as a continuous run of six-pane awning windows in a clerestory below a monitor roof. The overall structure is 50 feet wide at the ground level, narrowing to approximately 16 feet wide at the monitor roof.

The roof is supported by light steel frame trusses which are covered with asphalt shingles, which replaced the original corrugated asbestos siding that was removed at a later unknown date. The facility has one copper metal ventilator located along the roof ridge line of the monitor at the south end and two ventilators located on the lower gable roof. Several lightning aerials are located along the ridge line. The building is entered on grade. At the ground, each bay contains a double loading door, flanked by nine-pane industrial windows. The concrete walls and columns of the structure project slightly on the exterior, but are not expressed on the roof line. Except for two modern night lights located on the monitor portion of the roof, the north and south end walls are blank.

Modifications include the replacement of some of the original doors with solid steel doors and new openings for mechanical systems. Ogden Arsenal, Loading & Assembly Line Building HAER No. UT-84-AG i " : ; r page 3 . 1 C1 *3I ti rO i ; i... i! i! : 1 I , ! i ...I < " '; '< M- i i 1 ' 1 i j-i. : .1 . . -r mil '-4 *-;.Li=.;'-- ' : i i; : J