JANUARY—DECEMBER 1963
227
Energy Commission; E. B. Pender, Senior Executive Engineer, Civil
Engineering, Snowy Mountain Hydroelectric Authority; and Dr.
KE. K. Carter, Supervising Geologist, Geology and Geophysics, Bureau of Mineral Resources.
During their eight-week visit, the Australians were given an intensive review ofall the technical phases of the Plowshare program. The
group visited the San Francisco Operations Office, the Lawrence
Radiation Laboratory, Livermore; the Nevada Operations Office and
Test Site, and other Commission facilities,
Carryall Feasibility Study
Officials of The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co. approached the Commission in 1963 on the possibility of using nuclear
explosives to excavate a cut in leu of digging a tunnel through the
Bristol Mountains north of Amboy, Calif. The Santa Fe Co.is interested in the cut for realigning a portion of their road bed through
the region, and in addition California’s Division of Highwaysis inter-
ested in rerouting U.S. Highway 66 (Interstate 40) through the cut. :
A joint feasibility study group, comprised of staff members from The
Santa Fe Co., the California Division of Highways, and the Commission’s San Francisco Operations Office, with technical participation
by LRL, has examined the feasibility of this idea. The joint study —
was assigned the name Carryall. In its final report, a summary of
which was issued December 23, 1963, the group concluded that the
project would be technically feasible.
The proposed pass through the mountain would be about 10,090
feet in length and would involve cuts up to 350 feet deep. About
60 million cubic yards of rock would be excavated.
Oneinteresting result of the study was a possible new application—
the creation of a large crater to serve as a sumpto collect in dry areas
excess water from flash flooding. The use of such a sump in a normally dry stream bed to collect excess water would eliminate the
need for large bridge structures.
abe
West Virginia Atomic Energy Committee
In late 1961, Governor William W. Barron of W. Va. appointed an
Atomic Energy Committee to assess the technical merits of the Plowshare program in the development of his State’s resources and to
recommend a position which the State should adopt with respect to
the Plowshare program.