The Azores - Building an airfield

For the next eleven months the 801st Engineer Aviation Battalion did what it was created and trained to do: build an air base. The plans were ambitious. There were to be three runways, hardstands for the aircraft, a sixteen tank farm for gasoline with pipelines and pumping stations, repair and maintenance facilities for the aircraft, and a 192-building cantonment for Air Transport Command that would include, among other features, 17,000 linear feet of sewers, the first on the Azores. One of their first tasks would be the construction of a navigation beacon so that pilots would have an easier time of finding Terceira in the midst of the vast Atlantic.

Before any construction could be done the ground had to be surveyed and plans had to be developed by S-3 Section and assignments made by the battalion's Engineering and Operations Officer, Capt. Wilkins B. Hoppe. The Battalion's Executive Officer, Major Robert L. Clifford, was placed in charge of coordinating runway construction, with Runways 29-11 (*see note below) and 34-16 the responsibility of Captain Robert Paulson's Company A. Company A would also perform all asphalt work for the entire field. Captain Jack E. Schroeders' Company B would also work on Runway 21-03, but concentrated on the tank farm and then the cantonment area. Capt. Earl E. Williams' Company C would also have a hand at Runway 21-03, but would spend the majority of their time on the cantonment. Capt. Hoppe's H&S Company did work on the pipeline and furnished heavy equipment operators, truck drivers, and repair and maintenance men to the other companies' projects.

(*The runway designations refer to their compass headings. For example, the two ends of Runway 29-11 point toward 290 degrees and 110 degrees.)

The big cut on Runway 21-03,
where a seventy-foot hill was removed.
photo from the battalion official history
click on photo for larger version

The first major project to break ground was work on Emergency Runway A. By mid-March a 3,300-foot long, 250-foot wide runway was ready for use. This was eventually extended to become Runway 21-03, 5,934 feet long with a paved width of 150 feet and shoulder-to-shoulder width of 300 feet. A seventy-foot hill had to be removed at the north end of the runway during its construction. Runway 29-11 was 6,000 feet long, with a 400-foot width from shoulder line to shoulder line. Runway 34-16 was the longest of the three, with a 10,567-foot length, a paved width of 200 feet, and a width between shoulders of 400 feet. It was the longest runway in the world at the time. A taxiway 160 feet long was also built between Runways 21-03 and 29-11.

The 8' fuel pipeline at the coast
photo from the battalion official history
click on photo for larger version

In addition to the runways and taxiways 177,973 square yards of hardstanding (paved parking areas for aircraft) were built and an additional 16,180 square yards were created for the Navy, whose Catalina Privateer antisubmarine patrol bombers also flew out of Lagens Field. A total of 6,670 square feet of runway aprons was also constructed.

The gasoline tank farm consisted of fifteen-10,000 barrel tanks and one 5,000-barrel tank. A double 8" pipeline extended over a mile to the sea so that tankers could offload directly into the system. An aditional 2,200 feet of double 8" pipe was laid within the tank farm, and 4,500 feet of single 8" pipe extended from the farm to the airfield. Two pump houses were built to keep the gasoline flowing.

In addition to the sewers and several miles of road, the list of structures built for the Air Transport Command cantonment was long and impressive, a complete city:

Number	Type	Use	Size
66	Prefabricated steel	Enlisted men's quarters and administration	20' x 50'
20	Prefabricated plywood	Various	20' x 48'
23	Prefabricated wood	Latrines	20' x 24'
5	Prefabricated wood	Generator buildings	20' x 24'
18	Prefabricated wood	Bachelor Officer Quarters (BOQ)	20' x 96'
1	Prefabricated wood	Hotel DeGinke	15,136 sq. ft.
1	Prefabricated wood	Administration building	7,444 sq. ft.
2	Prefabricated wood	Enlisted men's mess	6,200 sq. ft.
1	Prefabricated wood	Officer's mess	6,882 sq. ft.
1	Prefabricated wood	Officer's club	4,208 sq. ft.
1	Prefabricated wood	Service club	3,440 sq. ft.
1	Prefabricated wood	Post Exchange (PX)	5,762 sq. ft.
11	Prefabricated wood	Miscellaneous	varying
7	Prefabricated wood	Warehouses	31' x 95'
1	T/O	Equipment Shed	32' x 96'
1	T/O	Laundry	47' x 111'
1	T/O	Motor repair	varying
2	T/O	Laundry	24' x 44'
5	T/O warehouse type	Varying	5,742 sq. ft.
1	Stone masonry	Radio range building	24' x 44'
1	T/O	Theater	5,742 sq. ft.
1	T/O	Recreation building	87 1/2' x 112'
	T/O	Varying	varying
19	Stone masonry	Food storage	4,194 sq. ft.
1	Stone masonry	Pump house	20' x 48'

Other quantities involved in the construction were also impressive:

Earth excavation	886, 634	cubic yards
Rock excavation	335,000	cubic yards *	* 150,000 cubic yards done by 928th Engineer Aviation Regiment
Base material excavation	305,274	cubic yards
Total excavation	1,426,908	cubic yards *

Cutback asphalt	1,600,000	gallons
Culvert concrete	1,400	cubic yards
4" bituminous macadam pavement	414,062	square yards
Bituminous surface treatment	275,412	square yards
Sewers	17,000	linear feet
Control tower	1	each
22" gas drum culvert	8,612	linear feet

The work was difficult and Lt. Colonel Galanti drove the men hard, but there was not a man among them who knew that their life was easer that that of the men flying the planes, or the men on the ground in North Africa and eventually in Europe that they would be supporting.

Next: Mission accomplished >

Dodging B-17s

Dad was a little too close a spectator to the first landing of an American heavy bomber on the new airfield. more >