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By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 05:30 p.m. EDT, Jul 08, 2009
There's a new challenge at the old Ravenna Arsenal in Portage County: three potentially live 500-pound bombs.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $350,000 contract to a Texas company to dig around the bombs to determine whether they have fuses and must be detonated, or whether they are lacking fuses and can be moved safely, said Mark Patterson, facility manager at the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant.
The bombs are ''the biggest thing we've encountered yet out here,'' he said.
The work by PIKA International of Stafford will begin next week and be completed by Aug. 28.
The three bombs were found in the 35-acre Open Demolition Area No. 2 near the center of the complex that lies in eastern Portage and western Trumbull counties, Patterson said.
The bombs appear to date to the late 1940s or early 1950s and probably were produced at the old arsenal, he said.
The bombs, each containing as much as 270 pounds of high explosives, are partially buried and sitting along Sand Creek at the so-called half-acre Rocket Ridge area, he said.
Each bomb would have two fuses set in fuse wells, but officials cannot tell if the bombs are fused or not, he said.
If the bombs are fused, the Army probably will attempt to explode them on site. That would require a new contract with an engineering firm, Patterson said.
The Army has exploded bombs that size in the past at the old arsenal, and there is little danger of bomb fragments leaving the site, he said.
If the bombs are not fused, they will be moved into storage and dealt with later, he said.
It is possible that they are filled with sand or other non-explosive materials, he said.
In addition, an artillery shell with a fuse has been uncovered nearby and will have to be exploded surrounded by sandbags, he said.
The current contract also calls for a full assessment of what's in the old dump with up to 5 feet of buried wastes. The site, discovered in 2004, is about 90 feet long and 80 feet wide.
In 2007, a white phosphorus grenade exploded at Rocket Ridge. Some ammunition had also washed into Sand Creek. A screening mechanism was installed last summer to keep munitions from washing farther downstream.
The Ravenna complex produced artillery and mortar shells in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It closed in 1971.
Most of the 21,419-acre facility has been turned over to the Ohio Army National Guard for use as a training complex.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
There's a new challenge at the old Ravenna Arsenal in Portage County: three potentially live 500-pound bombs.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $350,000 contract to a Texas company to dig around the bombs to determine whether they have fuses and must be detonated, or whether they are lacking fuses and can be moved safely, said Mark Patterson, facility manager at the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant.
The bombs are ''the biggest thing we've encountered yet out here,'' he said.
The work by PIKA International of Stafford will begin next week and be completed by Aug. 28.
The three bombs were found in the 35-acre Open Demolition Area No. 2 near the center of the complex that lies in eastern Portage and western Trumbull counties, Patterson said.
The bombs appear to date to the late 1940s or early 1950s and probably were produced at the old arsenal, he said.
The bombs, each containing as much as 270 pounds of high explosives, are partially buried and sitting along Sand Creek at the so-called half-acre Rocket Ridge area, he said.
Each bomb would have two fuses set in fuse wells, but officials cannot tell if the bombs are fused or not, he said.
If the bombs are fused, the Army probably will attempt to explode them on site. That would require a new contract with an engineering firm, Patterson said.
The Army has exploded bombs that size in the past at the old arsenal, and there is little danger of bomb fragments leaving the site, he said.
If the bombs are not fused, they will be moved into storage and dealt with later, he said.
It is possible that they are filled with sand or other non-explosive materials, he said.
In addition, an artillery shell with a fuse has been uncovered nearby and will have to be exploded surrounded by sandbags, he said.
The current contract also calls for a full assessment of what's in the old dump with up to 5 feet of buried wastes. The site, discovered in 2004, is about 90 feet long and 80 feet wide.
In 2007, a white phosphorus grenade exploded at Rocket Ridge. Some ammunition had also washed into Sand Creek. A screening mechanism was installed last summer to keep munitions from washing farther downstream.
The Ravenna complex produced artillery and mortar shells in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It closed in 1971.
Most of the 21,419-acre facility has been turned over to the Ohio Army National Guard for use as a training complex.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Posted 05:39 PM, 07/08/2009
Part of the problem with our government, and how the military operates. They're going to pay a company $350,000 to dig around the bombs and determie if they have fuses. If they do, they'll probably blow them up on site, which will require a new contract with an engineering firm.
The US Army Corp of Engineers is not capable of carrying out these operations.
This reminds me of a scene from the movie Indenpendence Day. They're at the special area 51 with the President, and a bunch of staff. The pres asks "How do you fund all of this." And another guy says "You don't really think they spend $500 on a hammer do you?"
Kent, OH
Posted 05:54 PM, 07/08/2009
Reminds me of those wacky headline emails. "Bodies Found in Cemetery".
akron, oh
Posted 06:59 PM, 07/08/2009
Funny puppy!!
akron, oh
Posted 07:06 PM, 07/08/2009
i will do it for $5.00 and a Happy Meal
akron, oh
Posted 10:46 PM, 07/08/2009
let me keep hunting there and who cares.
Canton, oh
Posted 08:55 AM, 07/09/2009
Just hit it with a big hammer. What's the big deal?
Newton Falls, Oh
Posted 03:50 PM, 07/09/2009
Rather than waste the money on trying to figure out if they are dangerous, and THEN spending the money to blow them up, just slap a coupole of shape cahrges on the sides, and let them go. Heck, I know people that would pay to watch.
