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Show Duquesne Light Co. River Plants The Duquesne Light Co., which produces electric power for most of Allegheny and Beaver Counties, has made ex- cellent use of the navigable river system in the area. Its five generating plants are located on the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers in order to avail themselves of cheap river transportation of coal and to insure adequate water sup- ply for steam generation and cooling purposes. The sixth plant is under construction on the Monongahela River. About 60 percent of the coal used for fuel is brought to the power plants by barge shipment, amount- ing, in recent years, to about 1,000,000 tons annually. Wheeling Steel Corp., Wheeling, W. Va. The Wheeling Steel Corp. was incorporated in 1920, about 3 years after the system of locks and wicket dams were completed on the Ohio River connecting Wheeling and Pittsburgh and the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers slack-water navigation. In addition to the Wheeling Mills the corporation has six other plants in the Steubenville area and several subsidiaries. The corporation now has three twin-screw Diesel tow- boats handling about 2,000,000 tons of coal from their mines on the Allegheny River to their terminal at Fol- lansbee, W. Va., for consumption in three nearby mills. Manufactured goods shipped by water consist of about 50,000 tons of formed steel and tin plate annually handled by the barge lines. Ashland Oil & Refining Co., Catlettsburg, Ky. The Ashland Oil & Refining Co. is an excellent example of the development of an industry through the stimula- tion of low-cost water transportation afforded by an im- proved waterway. The refining company moved from Lexington, Ky., to Catlettsburg, Ky., about 25 years ago when it was determined that a saving of 25 cents per barrel in the transportation of crude oil and refined products could be realized at the new location on the Ohio River. Starting out with 25 employees, and an investment of $250,000, and doing a business of a few thousand dollars per year, the company has developed in the past 25 years so that in its most recent fiscal year the company did a $100,000,000 business. The company now has 2,500 em- ployees and is refining at Catlettsburg between 35,000 and 40,000 barrels of crude oil daily. The company has con- structed a river terminal and operates a fleet of 6 towboats and 64 barges. A large portion of the refined products move from Cat- lettsburg to points along the entire length of the Ohio River, from Pittsburgh, Pa., to the Mississippi River. The company has stated that their products can be moved by water from its refinery to any point in this 980-mile reach of the Ohio River at a lower cost than the products could be moved by either truck or rail for a distance of 10 miles from their refinery into Ashland, Ky. Also, crude oil and refined petroleum products are being moved by water from the Gulf coast area to Catlettsburg, a distance of 1,700 miles, for less than a cent per gallon whereas it is not possible to ship gasoline by truck or rail for 75 miles at a cent per gallon. Marietta Manufacturing Co. The Marietta Manufacturing Co., located at Point Pleasant, W. Va., since 1915, is engaged during normal times in the building of river towboats, dredges, packet boats, ferry boats and barges of steel construction, as well as steam engines and auxiliaries for use on river vessels. However, during World War II, the capacity of the ship- yard was used primarily for the construction of ships and boats for the armed services and the Defense Plant Corporation. Location on an improved inland water- way made it possible to use labor and basic materials, plentiful in the area, for fabricating and equipping ships for national defense which otherwise would have required space and manpower in the congested seacoast shipyards. Semet-Solvay Division, Allied Chemical & Dye Corp., Ironton, Ohio, and Ashland, Ky. The Semet-Solvay Division, Allied Chemical & Dye Corp., located on the Ohio River, with plants at Ironton, Ohio, and Ashland, Ky., altered its operations so as to utilize low-cost water transportation afforded by improved waterways. The firm utilizes large tonnages of coal for its manufacture of coke, coal tar, ammonia, and several byproducts. The Ashland plant, which is the largest user of coal, originally obtained its coal by rail from mines in the interior of Kentucky. In 1938, after modernization of the Kanawha River navigation system was completed, the firm began obtaining its coal supply from Harewood, W. Va., where it is loaded directly into barges and towed down the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers for a total distance of 140 miles to unloading docks at the two plants. The firm owns and operates 2 towboats, 1 tug, and 55 barges in meeting its demand for about 70,000 tons of coal per month. Armco Steel Corp., Ashland Division, Ashland, Ky. The Ashland Division of the Armco Steel Corp. is using the waterway to reach new markets for existing products. At the present time, the plant is shipping about 3,000 tons of finished steel sheets by waterways to Memphis, Tenn., and Houston, Tex., for redistribution to the southwestern part of the country. The market was developed entirely as a result of low-cost water transportation afforded by the improved inland waterways. Kanawha-Ohio Chemical Industry Region The Kanawha River Valley and the Ohio River Valley upstream and downstream from the mouth of the Kanawha River represent one of the major chemical-producing re- gions of the world. The existing industries are expanding in the Kanawha River Valley and many new centers are being established along the Ohio River. The capital in- vestment in chemical plants in the Kanawha River Valley alone is estimated to be $400,000,000. The location and growth of the chemical industry in the Ohio-Kanawha region can be attributed to many factors, chief among which are the following: abundance of coal, natural gas, and brines; the availability of labor; the excellent trans- portation facilities provided both by the railroads and the 427 |
