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WWII engineer equipment?

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  • Member since
    January 2014
  • From: Auburn Ca
WWII engineer equipment?
Posted by Daveroo on Monday, August 31, 2015 9:37 PM

its hard to find much on the corps of engineers stuff..some books and other media are showing up..but when they built runways or even roads..did they use rock crushers?

i mean there are dozers,dump trucks,big shoves and drags,but how about a loader of some kind?..did they have front loads in WWII?..and then the rock crushers?..ive seen them back in to the 1920s on construction sites,but did the army use them,or the seabees? id like to build a working crusher to crush some small ice cubes my portable icemaker makes,just for fun..but id like to know what was used in WWII.

  • Member since
    February 2004
Posted by dhenning on Monday, August 31, 2015 9:57 PM

I don't think that they would have designed or commissioned special crushers or asphalt plants.  Most of the ones used in the late 30s and 40s were mobile anyway...remember this was at the end of the WPA projects that built thousands of miles of roads (both state, US, and local) across the country.  One of the construction magazines that I receive in my office has a feature each month of historic construction equipment.  There is even a website devoted to it...try googling that and see what you find.

  • Member since
    November 2014
Posted by BLACKSMITHN on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 4:43 AM

There is an interesting multi-part article/book you can find on Google called Building the Navy's Bases in World War two, or something like that. Concerning the Seabees, the article notes--

 

"The crushing and screening plant was a portable three unit type with two jaw crushers and one roll crusher, complete with screens, conveyors, bins, diesel-engine power units, and drives. The plant was designed so that a washing attachment could be installed in the third unit, if washed aggregate was needed. The approximate minimum capacity of the plant was 250 tons per hour, of 21/2-inch, maximum size product."

 

So the Seabees definitely had such a critter. The article/book/whatever you want to call it is free and also contains some interesting details about the number and type of other equipment found in a Seabee construction battalion. It's not super detailed, but it's a good start.

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: North Pole, Alaska
Posted by richs26 on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 5:03 PM

The Army Aviation Engineering units and the Navy's CB (Sea Bee) units used regular commercial equipment.  Why re-invent something when it already existed.  Just slap green paint on it and ship it overseas.  A D-7 becomes an Army M-1 dozer.

WIP:  Monogram 1/72 B-26 (Snaptite) as 73rd BS B-26, 40-1408, torpedo bomber attempt on Ryujo

Monogram 1/72 B-26 (Snaptite) as 22nd BG B-26, 7-Mile Drome, New Guinea

Minicraft 1/72 B-24D as LB-30, AL-613, "Tough Boy", 28th Composite Group

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 5:25 PM

Have a look here. From the classic series Victory At Sea, it shows the SeaBees fixing up Munda after its' capture from the Japanse. The first 90 seconds has all sorts of construction equipment of which I can identify only a portion... More is seen at the last minute or so of the clip. Most looks the same as you would see anywhere in the USA at that time and not too different from some current stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suOZtljSxQw

 

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: North Pole, Alaska
Posted by richs26 on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 6:43 PM

Also on Youtube:  the 804th Aviation Engineer Battalion, Saipan, June 23, 1944.  This one has an added bonus of early P-61 film.  And look for Report From The Aleutians which has the story of building the Aleutian airstrips, and operations from them.

WIP:  Monogram 1/72 B-26 (Snaptite) as 73rd BS B-26, 40-1408, torpedo bomber attempt on Ryujo

Monogram 1/72 B-26 (Snaptite) as 22nd BG B-26, 7-Mile Drome, New Guinea

Minicraft 1/72 B-24D as LB-30, AL-613, "Tough Boy", 28th Composite Group

  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Kincheloe Michigan
Posted by Mikeym_us on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 7:15 PM

stikpusher

Have a look here. From the classic series Victory At Sea, it shows the SeaBees fixing up Munda after its' capture from the Japanse. The first 90 seconds has all sorts of construction equipment of which I can identify only a portion... More is seen at the last minute or so of the clip. Most looks the same as you would see anywhere in the USA at that time and not too different from some current stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suOZtljSxQw

 

 

With Munda it was a matter of using Marsden matting (PSP)and crushed coral to rebuild the runway.

On the workbench: Dragon 1/350 scale Ticonderoga class USS BunkerHill 1/720 scale Italeri USS Harry S. Truman 1/72 scale Encore Yak-6

The 71st Tactical Fighter Squadron the only Squadron to get an Air to Air kill and an Air to Ground kill in the same week with only a F-15   http://photobucket.com/albums/v332/Mikeym_us/

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 8:46 PM

And filling in or repairing any battle damage (cratering) that had occured previously. The Bouganville footage at the end of the clip was a case of creating an airfield where none was before. In either case, it was more than just simple occupation for the engineers to get those air strips up and running as was the case in some battles.

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

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