8-Inch Plant Receiving Building

8-Inch Plant Receiving Building. Bethlehem Loading Country History Trail. , The process of loading munitions began in the receiving building where metal components of the shells were unloaded from railroad cars. For safety, only one-day's supply was delivered from the incoming storage buildings. Each component was carefully inspected and cleaned to removed all traces of foreign matter, such as grit or grease, which would interfere with a successful detonation once filled. After cleaning, they were painted and stenciled with the shell size and range, and then sent to the pouring/filling building for loading with explosives., Shells made in this plant were fired from 8-inch Howitzers, field guns that America was already producing on a much smaller scale for the British allies before 1918. These guns had a range of about six miles and each shell weighed over 200 pounds., A total of 191 8-inch Howitzers were delivered to the US Army in total 1918 for use in the war overseas. By February 1919, the Mays Landing plant had produced a total of 8,231 8-inch shells., [Captions:] , Taken from atop the water tower in 1918 and looking southeast, this view shows the 8-inch plant in the distance. The two-section building in the foreground is the 155mm plant receiving building., world war one British soldiers prepare a gun for firing, attaching the explosive-filled bourrelet (head to the smokeless powder-filled cartridge case. (Library of Congress, Lot 9212, LC-USZ62-136097), US Army soldiers in Washington, DC load an antiaircraft gun in November 1918. The Washington Monument is in the background. (Library of Congress, Lot 8882, LC-USZ62-68350)