Modular Asphalt Plant--"Jumpin' Jigsaw Puzzles, Batman!"

In April of 1981, a select group of SEABEE volunteers from Reserve Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 23, of Ft. Belvoir, Va., were diverted from original orders for two-weeks of military training at U.S.Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va., for a special assignment. They were to join other Seabees from Reserve Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 13, Peekskill, N. Y., and also from the 21st Reserve Naval Construction Regiment staff, at Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC), Davisville, R. I.. The task... assemble a Barber-Greene 100-ton per hour portable asphalt plant removed from Pre-positioned War Reserve Stock and set out to be tested. The plant had been used extensively by active duty SEABEES for over ten years and later shipped to Davisville for complete rebuild. Construction Equipment Department shop personnel returned the plant to like-new condition before crating all the components and storing them for future war needs.

NCBC personnel and equipment, supplemented by SEABEE manpower, tackled the complex assembly job, and completed it as planned, with no injuries or mishaps. Navy civilians and SEABEE reservists bonded quickly into a solid team of dedicated plant erectors. Most of the civilians were veterans of one of the military branches. SEABEES from far away experienced some Rhode Island specialties like fresh caught lobster from Custy's dockside store on the old Quonset Point Naval Air Station pier, stuffed quahogs, Narragansett lager beer, coffee milk, and 'to die for" clam chowder at the Fleet Reserve Association's dining room located just outside NCBC's front gate. It was a very unique experience and one of the many which made my 16 years as a SEABEE reservist so rewarding!

--Normand Dupuis EOC USNR-(Ret.)

This photo captures most of the jubilant civilian/ SEABEE asphalt plant assembly crew celebrating the "topping out" of the plant. Operational testing had already begun as this photo was snapped. Construction Mechanic 2nd Class Ernie Basser of Pa,. kneeling on right, holds the "Gorilla wrench."	Our "Straw Boss" Dan McCarthy was responsible for making the job seem more like fun than work. His humor and soft-spoken leadership style helped to bring civilian employees of the Navy and SEABEE reservists from many locations and walks of life together, all working toward one goal. Get the plant "up and running"!
Equipment Operator 2nd Class, Brian Cain, of Pa., holds the project identification sign made up on the site. It lists all the NCBC civilian workers and SEABEE reservists who "got the job done". The Dirty Dozen + "1" moniker describes the thirteen SEABEE reservists.	On arrival at the assembly site, the Seabees found the major components of the plant arrayed along a circular perimeter road around a dirt field. The major sub-assemblies are set up as semi-trailer loads for convenient rail or highway movement.
More major components in travel configuration sit along the perimeter road while the crew begins to place the first pieces of the plant structure in the center of the open field. Other components will be attached from the center out to complete the "jigsaw puzzle".	Construction Mechanic Second Class Leo Bordonnaro, of Pa., on rough terrain forklift, selects another component for assembly. Some of the crating for storage is still visible and the plant's central components lifted into place by crane are seen in the background.

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