Manufacturing Operation

The American Waterways Operators, Inc., Washington, D.C., has announced that 101 plant facilities were located along the waterways of the United States in the first quarter of 1977, creating over 6,000 permanent jobs.

Of the 101 plant facilities, 74 reported capital investments totaling $1,596,100,000, an average of $21.5-million investment per plantsite. A total of 6,020 new jobs will be created by 16 of these plant locations, resulting in an average 375 new employees per plant.

AWO records show that 48 of the plants were chemical and petroleum refining facilities, 27 were metal-producing plants, four were terminals, docks and wharves, three were paper and wood-producing plants, and the remainder consisted of general manufacturing and miscellaneous installations.

The Mississippi River led with 22 facilities, followed by the Houston Ship Channel with 13, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway with 11, and the Ohio River with 10.

The following is a list, by waterway, of the 101 plant locations and expansions constructed or announced during the first quarter of 1977.

Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway — Piscataway, N.J., Tenneco Chemicals will open a flexible vinyl film plant, Union Carbide will expand with a $30-million investment, involving polystyrene operations and phenol production; Charleston, S.C., Robert Bosch Corp. will expand its diesel fuel systems plant; Hialeah, Fla., Designatronics will build a $l-million plant to manufacture electrical components.

Black Warrior, Warrior and Tombigbee River System—Bessemer, Ala., Alabama Oxygen will invest $4 million in expanding its air separation facilities to produce c r y o g e n i c liquids; Moundville, Ala., Lawter Chemicals is investing $3 million to expand its synthetic resins plant.

Chattahoochee River—Opelika, Ala., Troxel Manufacturing Co.

plans to construct a $2.75-million steel tubing plant, which will employ 150 people.

Columbia River — Quincy, Wash., Witco Chemical Corp. is opening a new $8-million plant to process diatomaceous earth, used industrially as a filter material and absorbent; Kalama, Wash., Madill plans to invest $2 million in a portable logging tower plant, employing up to 150 persons.

Connecticut River — South Windsor, Conn., United Technologies and the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration will construct a $12- million plant for experimental fuel cell power production.

Coosa River — Anniston, Ala., Phelps-Dodge Brass Co. will expand facilities by $3.3 million for producing cast and wrought iron.

Over 100 new jobs will be created.

Flint River—Griffin, Ga., Borden Chemicals will expand by $3.5 million; Albany, Ga., Merck & Co.

is expanding its pharmaceutical production with a $9-million investment.

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway — Port Arthur, Texas, ARCO Polymers is expanding its production of high-density polyethylene, Lubrizol Corp. plans to start work on a $20-million lubricant additive chemical plant; Berwick, La., Cameron Iron Works will spend $1 million to expand its oil-field machinery manufacturing plant; Beaumont, Texas, Threaded Steel Products Co. is constructing a $l-million plant to manufacture alloy steel stud bolts and anchor bolts; Victoria, Texas, DuPont has opened its high-density polyethylene resins plant; Corpus Christi, Texas, I CI Americas plans to construct a $600-million petrochemicals plant, Quintana- Howel began work on the second phase of a multimillion-dollar expansion which will result in one of the 10 largest benzene plants in the country, Sun Petroleum Products is investing $12 million in a modernization of its gas recovery and alkylation units; Eunice, La., Dresser Industries is planning to build a $22.9-million plant to manufacture mining and oil-field equipment; Lake Charles, La., Olin Corp. is investing $1.5 million in its nitrogenous fertilizer facility and $1.9 million in industrial organic chemical production ; Westlake, La., Continental Oil Co. is spending $16.5 million to improve its organic chemical plant and upgrade its production of cyclic crudes and intermediates.

Houston Ship Channel—Channelview, Texas, ARCO Chemical Co. has opened a new ethylene plant; Deer Park, Texas, Soltex Polymer Corp. plans an expansion of its polyethylene plant; LaPorte, Texas, Air Products & Chemicals will build an industrial gas plant, Novamont Corp. is planning a polypropylene plant; Houston, Texas, ACECO has started a $l-million overhead crane plant, Big Three Industries will expand its air separation plant, Diamond Shamrock Corp. plans a $100-million vinyl chloride plant, Exxon Chemical Co. plans a multimilliondollar expansion of its linear paraffin plant and will also invest $500 million in a new olefins plant, Georgia-Pacific Corp. plans a major chemical manufacturing complex, Gulf Oil Chemical Co. has completed a polyethylene unit, Imperial Sugar Co. is investing $3 million to expand facilities, Inland Marina has announced plans for the construction of the largest inland marina in the South. Over 400 sailboats and power boats will be accommodated in open, covered and dry storage facilities, Liquid Air is investing $4 million to increase its air separation plant's capacity for producing liquid oxygen and nitrogen, Pipe Specialties is investing $1 million to expand its production of high-pressure couplings, adding 90 employees, U.S. Steel Corp. is expanding its raw steelproducing facility.

Illinois Waterway — Joliet, 111., Peoples Gas Light & Coke Co. is now in full-scale production of a substitute natural gas at its new $100-million facility.

Kanawha River — Charleston, W.Va., Union Carbide Corp. will invest $7.7 million in air pollution control equipment at its plant; Nitro, W.Va., FMC Corp. is investing $3 million in pollution control equipment, Midwest Corp. will spend $1 million to build a spike and tract accessories plant, Monsanto Corp. plans to invest $1.1 million to expand its rubber chemicals plant, creating 650 jobs.

Kentucky River — Frankfort, Ky., Bendix Corp. will spend $1 million to expand its automotive brake manufacturing facility.

Lake Erie—Milan, Mich., Ford Motor Co. will expand its plastics division with a capital investment of $2.65 million.

Lake Michigan — Benton Harbor, Mich., Gast Manufacturing Corp. has opened a $1.5-million facility for its new reciprocating products d i v i s i o n ; Manitowoc, Wis., The Manitowoc Co. is constructing a $14-million plant to produce cranes and excavators, providing up to 600 new jobs.

McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River System—Pryor, Okla., Gold Bond Building Products will modernize its paper mill; Tulsa, Okla., Dover Corp. will expand its facilities for manufacturing barrel pumps with a $7.5-million investment, Industrial Fabricating Co. has opened a $12-million facility to manufacture heat exchangers, Sun Oil Co.

will invest $10 million in an expansion of its refinery facilities.

Mississippi River — Newbern, Tenn., Dover Industries plans to construct a $4.4-million plant, employing 280; Norco, La., Shell Chemical Co. will increase its production of polypropylene with an investment of $61.6 million; Gramercy, La., Kaiser Aluminum will upgrade its alkali and chlorine manufacturing plant by $8.9 million; Reserve, La., Betz Laboratories has begun construction on a $2-million facility to produce water treatment chemicals; Taft, La., Union Carbide Co. will spend $23 million to increase inorganic chemical production at its plant; St. Gabriel, La., Air Products and Chemicals has opened its $30-million facility to produce alkylamines for herbicides, Cos-Mar has finished its $55-million plant for manufacturing styrene monomers, DeRidder will employ 200 at its new plant to manufacture heat exchangers; Baton Rouge, La., Kaiser Aluminum is investing $7 million in expanding its industrial organic chemical plant, C.S. Mott will upgrade its molding resins facility by $10.9 million; Darrow, La., Inger Oil Co. is building a $1.5-million petroleum r e f i n e r y ; Geismar, La., BASF Wyandotte has completed its $30- million plant to produce agricultural chemicals; Paincourtville, La., Texas Brine Corp. will build a new $2.5-million facility to produce organic chemicals; Mereaux, La., Murphy Oil Co. is enlarging its refinery with a $3-million investment; Good Hope, La., Good Hope Refineries will invest $12.7 million in an expansion; St. Louis, Mo., Ford Motor Co. has added 1,250 workers at its auto assembly plant; Davenport, Iowa, Caterpillar Tractor Co. will enlarge its heavy equipment and diesel engine parts manufacturing plant; Muscatine, Iowa, Monsanto Co.

will spend $22 million in expanding its herbicide and plastics manufacturing plant; Plaquemine, La., Dow Chemical Co. will construct a $59.2-million facility to produce plastic materials; Fenton, Mo., Chrysler Corp. has expanded its auto assembly plant, creating 1,000 new jobs; House Springs, Mo., Universal Solar Systems plans to hire 100 people to make solar equipment; Pevely, Mo., Banner Iron Works is producing iron and steel castings in a new plant.

Missouri River — Mound City, Mo., Schuykill Metals Corp. will construct a lead reprocessing facility and hire 100 workers; Linn, Mo., Schlueter Manufacturing Co.

plans to build a plastic and metal water cooler manufacturing plant, employing 100 persons; Lawrence, Kan., TRW will expand its electrical cable manufacturing facility with a $3.2-million investment.

Ohio River — Louisville, Ky., DuPont will spend $7.5 million to upgrade its neoprene and freon manufacturing operation, International Harvester Co. has finished a $3.5-million expansion of its tractor manufacturing facility, Precision Tool, Die and Machine Co. will spend $1 million in improving its screw machine parts manufacturing operation, Vermont America Corp. will spend $1 million to expand its carbide manufacturing site; Paducah, Ky., Paducah Marine Ways will spend $2 million to expand its river barge construction plant, Union Carbide Corp. will enlarge its capability to produce enriched uranium ore with a $99.7-million expansion; Ashland, Ky., Pinkham Lumber Co. has finished a $7.8-million expansion of their lumber mill; Catlettsburg, Ky., construction will begin shortly on the first U.S. pilot project for coal liquefication. The project is jointly sponsored by Ashland Oil, Standard Oil of Indiana, the Electric Power Research Institute, the State of Kentucky, and the Federal Government; Elizabethtown, Ky., Colt Industries will expand its magnet production facilities with a $2-million investment; Lewisport, Ky., Martin Marietta Aluminum will employ 170 people after completion of its $40-million expansion.

Puget Sound—Sumner, Wash., A1 Thrasher Co. plans to spend $3 million for a sawmill.

Red River — Shreveport, La., Atlas Processing Co. is expanding its petroleum refinery with a $1.4- million addition; Bossier City, La., Louisiana Wire & Cable plans to construct a $4-million plant to fabricate wire products; Alexandria, La., Dresser Industrial Valve and Instrument will spend $1.6 million to enlarge its valve and pipe-fitting manufacturing operation ; Pollock, La., Farmland Industries has announced plans for a $5.7-million facility to produce nitrogenous fertilizer, F.I. Pollock Trust will erect a $59-million plant to manufacture nitrogenous fertilizer.

St. Johns River—Orlando, Fla., Mogul has broken ground for a $2-million f a c i l i t y to produce pharmaceutical products.

San Joaquin River — Fresno, Calif., PPG Industries will construct a $20-million float glass facility.

Savannah River — Toccoa, Ga., Vermont America Corp. will manufacture saw blades at a new $4.5-million facility; Waynesboro, Ga., Kimberly Clark Corp. is expanding its lumber production with a $2.3-million investment.

Snake River—Meridian, Idaho, Pumice Products Co. will construct a $2.5-million facility to produce concrete masonry units.

Tennessee River — Clinton, Tenn., Sprague Electric Company has begun site preparation work on a $3.6-million expansion program with the ultimate addition of 130 employees; Lenoir City, Tenn., Johnson City Chemical Company will build a fertilizer plant and a barge terminal; Gadsden, Ala., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will spend $69 million to expand its plant, creating 400 new jobs; Decatur, Ala., Gold Kist will begin construction on a demonstration project, authorized by the Energy Research and Development Administration, to use solar energy in drying soybeans, ConAgra plans an expansion of its plant in order to receive si- multaneous incoming shipments of grain by barge, truck and rail; Limestone County, Ala., the Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors has announced the construction of a new $80- million manufacturing plant, the second such facility to be built by the company outside Michigan.

The facility will share the Tennessee Riverfront with the first plant, bringing total GM investment to well over $200 million.

The new plant will employ approximately 1,150 persons in the manufacture of tilt-wheel steering columns and steering column intermediate shafts for GM and other U.S. automakers.