Ogden Arsenal, Motor Service House, 7759 Navajo Way, Layton

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

Navajo Way, Primer Loading Plant, Hill Air Force Base, Layton Vicinity, Davis County, Utah Note: For shelving purposes at the Library of Congress, Layton Vicinity in Davis County was assigned as the "official" location of Hill Air Force Base. Building is actually in the Ogden Vicinity of Weber County. UTM: Date of Construction: Architect: Unknown Builder: Unknown

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

Building housed an electric motor which operated the black powder screening machinery in Building where explosive chemicals that were used in ammunition primers were processed. These two buildings are the only ones of their type on the Base, and they provide insight into the chemical processing activities necessary for the manufacture of munitions at Ogden Arsenal during World War II. In addition, they contribute to an understanding of the U.S. Army build-up which occurred on the eve of and during World War EL History: The introduction of various types of ammunition manufacture at Ogden Arsenal during World War II necessitated the construction of many new buildings which took various forms as related to their specific functions within the overall manufacture and storage processes.

Building housed an electric motor which operated the black powder screening machinery in Building located seven feet to the west. Black powder is an explosive that is sensitive to impact, friction, and sparks. The Motor House was detached from the Screening Building to prevent sparks from igniting the black powder while it was being processed. OGDEN ARSENAL, MOTOR SERVICE HOUSE HAER No. UT-84-AY Page 2 Black Powder was the explosive ingredient used in primers for anti-tank ammunition that was manufactured at Ogden Arsenal during World War IL It is an explosive mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal.

These elements were finely ground, screened through aluminum sieves, and blended together in Building Using copper scoops, the blended black powder mixture was then drawn into 1 pint rubber cups that were placed in wood explosive transfer boxes. An explosive transfer cart was used to transfer these boxes from Building to a rest house, where they were stored in small quantities before going to the Black Powder Dry House (now demolished). In the Dry House, loose black powder was compacted in rolling mills and then pressed into cakes using hydraulic presses. The cakes were then broken and classified by grain.

The resulting granules were polished with graphite, which allowed the mixture to be freely poured into primer bodies in the Primer Loading Building (Building Due to the highly volatile nature of black powder, both of these buildings were designed in the "Arsenal Style," with a concrete skeleton that supports lightweight hollow tile block walls that were engineered to absorb and deflect the force of an explosion outward, away from the rest of the building. Originally, the interior walls of both buildings were coated with "Keene's Cement," a hard, white, high-strength plaster made by adding alum to burning gypsum. General Description: Building x is a one-story, gable-roofed building located in the original Primer Loading Plant Area.

Poured concrete columns support red hollow tile walls that are characteristic of the "Arsenal" style. The roof has a pitch with the original corrugated asbestos surfacing. The structure consists of exposed light steel framing, with a 12-inch copper ventilators with a damper centered on the asbestos ridge roll. The interior of the building contains a single room. A four-foot high linoleum wainscot lines the bottom half of the interior walls. Linoleum was also used on the floor, over a 4-inch concrete slab. This concrete slab rested on a layer of 4- inch hollow tile laid over a 6-inch cinder base. The sidewalk outside of the entry consists of a poured concrete slab reinforced with welded fabric atop the 6-inch cinder bed.