17 CHAPTER !, SECTION 1 —— ee weg, Figure 1-6. Ot NO eR LY Aggregate and Batch Plant - Elmer cable, bills of material were prepared from design criteria or preliminary drawings. Vendors were canvassed in advance of requisitioning to determine where materials were available. In certain critical cases, premium prices were paid for quick delivery. Splitting of orders was resorted to when this speeded delivery. Vendors who could be depended upon to keep promises of delivery had to be located and persuaded to bid. This generally led to high grade firms who already had heavy backlogs of orders. To break into these backlogs and obtain precedence in delivery, firms had to convinced of the importance of the order. Many fabricators willingly set aside their normal production schedules and made men and materials available for the desired work when informed that the work was of high priority for the Atomic Energy Commission. The priority section of the Supply Office of ALOO assisted considerably through Defense Order Priorities. These procedures, combined with close surveillance by inspectors of the fabrication of - critical items, and expediting the movement of these items at all points, made it possible to substantially decrease normal delivery time. All materials for transshipment to the PPG by surface vessels were delivered to the NSC Oakland, California, where they were manifested and held for loading on vessels under command of the Western Sea Frontier. Task Force standard procedures required that estimates of cargo for shipment be made four months in advance. Space was then allocated aboard the vessels according to the amount of material to be shipped by each agency involved in the Opera- tion. Schedules originally were established to provide all needed surface transport by having one cargo vessel approximately once a month. The increased scope of work and the need for Page 1-17