Why was Washington State an attractive site for aluminum production during World War II?
score:2
This spurt of aluminum production in Washington had nothing to do with aluminum deposits. Rather, this was brought about by to dramatic changes—the beginning of World War II, and the opening of several large dams in Washington State. The abundance of hydroelectric power from recently built large dams (like the famous Grand Coulee Dam, the largest in the world at that time) aided the powering of aluminum factories in such cities as Vancouver, Tacoma, and Wenatchee. With the entrance of the United States into World War II, the demand for aluminum production also increased. (Most warplanes were built primarily of aluminum; the typical heavy bomber required 15000 pounds of that metal!) And since the foremost American producer of warplanes—Boeing—was located in Seattle, Washington was an ideal location for the placement of wartime aluminum factories.
Upvote:0
Just to add: http://siteselection.com/ssinsider/snapshot/sf020916.htm
Alco help finance a majority of this hydro-dam as part of the requirments to produce aluminum there. I believe what ever they dont use as far the electricity generated. They bleed back into the grid to supply the communities and the dam remains in the Icelandic states control. Not a bad deal as working together is a great example. Instead of the money hungery nature of most today. ...Peace.....
Upvote:1
Washington State is the home of the Columbia River, and its tributary, the Snake River.
The Columbia River is "only" the fourth longest river in the U.S., but it traverses the hilliest terrain. As such, it is the most suitable for building dams to generate hydroelectric power.
As another poster points out, hydroelectric power is more necessary to the smelting of aluminum than to other metals because it is the most "continuous" source of power.
In metals smelting, one needs several tons of coal (or its equivalent) to process one ton of metal, so access to power sources is more important than access to bauxite. Also, The Columbia River made it easy to ship bauxite to the mouth of the river, and then upstream.
Upvote:18
Aluminum manufacturing is very energy-intensive and requires large amounts of electricity, which the other comments have covered.
Washington State and the Pacific Northwest has an abundance of inexpensive electricity due to the large-scale hydro-electric power projects installed from the 1930s through the 1970s. Examples include the Grand Coulee Dam, Chief Joseph Dam, Rocky Reach Dam, and more. Today the power distribution is covered by the Bonneville Power Administration, which distributes its generation to the local utilities.
As these major electrical producers came on line with relatively abundant and cheap electricity, it spurred aluminum refineries to be built in the area, which then fed refined aluminum to the local aircraft industries during and after WWII. The Seattle area had very significant activity in aircraft production (Boeing) and ship-building (numerous shipyards) during WWII. Aluminum refineries were also located in Spokane (Kaiser).
One could argue that this helped set up a technology, semiconductor and later software base in Washington, as each industry led to the other.
A side benefit is that the dam projects also irrigate central Washington, turning this desert area into highly productive farmland. This is called the Columbia Basin Project.
Upvote:46
Aluminium refining requires huge amounts of electricity so plants are often sited close to things like hydroelectric dams or abundant supplies of coal or natural gas. Bauxite (aluminium ore) needs to be refined by electrolysis so it is very good way to make use of surplus off-peak high output electrical power and the costs of shipping the ore to the plant are trivial compared to the energy requirements to refine it.
Aluminium smelting is fairly unusual in that it specifically requires electricity rather than generic fuel such as coke and this is the main reason why it was so difficult and expensive to produce before the advent of high capacity electrical power generation.
This article suggests that Washington state does indeed have abundant hydro-electric power.
More post
- 📝 When in 1885 did Stafford Northcote cease to be Commons leader of the Conservatives?
- 📝 Did the Indus Valley Civilization use cotton as a writing material?
- 📝 How were interracial relationships between African-Americans and Latinos treated in Southern states before the Loving decision?
- 📝 Apart from Veer Savarkar and S.A. Dange, were there any Indian revolutionaries who filed mercy petitions to the British?
- 📝 What is the historical background of the current Ukraine crisis?
- 📝 Which English king voided noble land claims after a certain date?
- 📝 What were the Lines of Ne Plus Ultra in the War of the Spanish Succession?
- 📝 How did Yugoslavia economically survive the Cold War
- 📝 Which native groups were hostile to the fur trade in North America?
- 📝 Why were schoolchildren in the USA taught virtually nothing about the Holocaust during the fifties and sixties?
- 📝 Which have been the most and least successful Olympics in terms of economic impact?
- 📝 Was there ever a strategic concern about East German refusing to fight against West Germans (and vice versa) if the cold war had gone hot?
- 📝 Why did the First Mexican Empire replace 60% of its Regency?
- 📝 Who is the most recent (non Bush) father son pair who have invaded the Middle East?
- 📝 Was there a social stigma for British born/living in India prior to WW2/Indian independence?
- 📝 Was there any kind of detective in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 Has a German U-Boat ever transported an American during WW2?
- 📝 In Chicago, IL, why do most north/south streets change names east of Ashland on the north vs south side?
- 📝 Origin of San Francisco's water lots off Candlestick Point
- 📝 Was California named after a Moorish ruler called Queen Calafia?
- 📝 History of Raetia between 15 CE to 550 CE
- 📝 What percentage of households in Sweden in the 1990s only had over-the-air TV?
- 📝 Was there a Viking Exchange as well as a Columbian one?
- 📝 From 1200 B.C. until 100 A.D. did people in the Middle East sit on mats or mainly on chairs?
- 📝 Where on a modern map are these areas of Ptolemy's map?
- 📝 Were people of Third Estate rich?
- 📝 Do Real Roman and Greek warriors have big muscles and six-pack abs like in the movie?
- 📝 Were there originally seats in the elevators in the Eiffel Tower?
- 📝 How common was it for USAAF aircrews to swap airplanes?
- 📝 What was Poland's involvement in the Vietnam War?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why was Washington State an attractive site for aluminum production during World War II?
- 📝 Why was Hanford, Washington, selected during World War II as the site of America’s first nuclear energy plant?
- 📝 Why was Switzerland not attacked during the two World Wars?
- 📝 During World War I, why were church bells stopped until the war was over?
- 📝 What was the estimated malaria death toll for US Forces during World War II?
- 📝 Why was Seattle chosen for the site of Expo 62?
- 📝 Why was France granted an equal status among victors of World War II?
- 📝 Why didn't Imperial Japan attack the Soviet Union during World War 2?
- 📝 Why didn’t Japan attack the West Coast of the United States during World War II?
- 📝 Why was Spanish Fascist dictatorship left in power after World War II?
- 📝 Why were there no internment camps for German-American citizens in USA during WW2?
- 📝 Why was it "acceptable" for Prince Charles to marry a divorced woman, when Edward VIII had to abdicate for marrying divorcee Wallis Simpson?
- 📝 Why was World War I ended on Nov 11 11:00, rather than immediately upon signing the armistice?
- 📝 During the breakup of the Soviet Union, on what basis was citizenship granted or withheld for each of the fifteen new republics?
- 📝 What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
- 📝 Why was there a surge in the US incarceration rate during the 1990s?
- 📝 Why was no Nobel Prize for Literature awarded in 1935?
- 📝 If the Ch’in dynasty was so short-lived, why was China named for it?
- 📝 Why does the US use the opposite convention to the rest of the world for colour-coding harbour buoys?
- 📝 What was the strategy to protect the British Museum during the World Wars?
- 📝 Why was the area now known as Liberia chosen as the location for repatriation of African slaves in the US?
- 📝 Why was there lack of food during WW2 in the UK?
- 📝 Why was the Western Front so static in World War I?
- 📝 "More Frenchmen bore arms for the Axis than for the Allies during the Second World War"?
- 📝 Why was the Cold War carried out over the whole world instead of between Siberia and Alaska?
- 📝 What was the liquor that was based on petrol which was produced in the USSR during the Second World War?
- 📝 If modern human existed for hundreds of thousands years why was writing invented only some 7000-9000 years ago?
- 📝 How was beer production affected by the war during WW2?
- 📝 Why was gold so popular and valuable back when it did not have many real world uses?
- 📝 Why did it take so long for the Germans to develop the first tank model in World War I?