Ernest Harmon Air Force Base - Cold War Expansion and Road Construction

Cold War Expansion and Road Construction

The Cold War expansion of the base in the early 1950s coincided with the Korean War and the rise in nuclear tensions with the Soviet Union. The USAF sought to build more roads in the area to serve the base and nearby Pinetree Line early warning radar site and to patrol the immediate area for security; the roads would also act as a means of dispersing personnel in an emergency. One of the more important projects was a bypass road around the base, known as the Hansen Memorial Highway.

In 1953, the 347th (Engineer Aviation) battalion was assigned the immense task (along with 2,502 contractor personnel) of completing the 62 line construction projects at Ernest Harmon AFB. These consisted of:

• completion of major runways of up to 222,000 sq yd (186,000 m2)
• taxiway and aprons of up to 421,000 sq yd (352,000 m2)
• aprons of heavy duty pavement up to 351,000 sq yd (293,000 m2)
• construct a runway complex that was so large that the existing harbor facilities at Port Harmon had to be demolished to give proper clearance for aircraft
• construction of fighter aircraft hangars
• construction of 3 wharves and dredging of the existing harbor at Port Harmon, which, when completed was 8,000 ft (2,400 m) long, 200 ft (61 m) wide, and 35 ft (11 m) deep
• construct a flight control tower in September 1953
• construct 4 petroleum tanks with a capacity of 25,000 to 125,000 bbl (4,000 to 19,900 m3) of aviation fuel

By June 1953 the 347th Engineers had deployed 444 engineers. They were joined by an additional 750 engineers who departed Florida and arrived at Harmon on June 23 to construct three of the line construction projects:

• a bypass road Hanson Memorial Highway to prevent civilian access through the base (in progress since April, 1943)
• a base salvage yard
• a trailer park for Harmon personnel
• removal of a granite hill the north end of the Frobisher Bay AFB runway

The 347th Engineers was made up of four companies; three line companies and one Headquarters and Service (H&S) company. Company A was responsible for construction of the salvage yard and Company B and C were responsible for the construction of the bypass road with a budget of $583,000.

The salvage yard, which was situated near Noels Pond on 30 acres (120,000 m2), was finished to partial occupancy by the fall of 1954 and completed in 1955. Thirty Butler Buildings (prefabricated steel) were located on the property. The machinery which constructed the bypass road was buried at the end of the property when it became over used and obsolete in 1959/1960, under the supervision of Warrant Officer Ebb Higdon, Company A. They were later dug up to be sold for scrap but were found to be useless and reburied. This equipment had come up from Florida in Liberty ships, with the battalion in 1953. In 1986, when this information was made available to the town of Stephenville via a series of articles in the Georgian newspaper, several doubters and curiosity seekers, armed with metal detectors, swarmed over the site and located the buried equipment.

Company B and C began work on the bypass road by working towards each other. Company C, under the command of Captain Claxton Ray began at the Stephenville side and worked towards Company B which began construction near Cormiers Village and worked in two directions towards Long Gull Pond and towards Stephenville. It was necessary to begin construction of the road at Cormiers Village and work back towards Stephenville pending the finalizing of property agreements. Company B was under the command of Captain Gomez. The H&S Company split operations equipment and men between the three Companies.

The 11 mi (18 km) long construction began with a line of corduroy roads comprising one half of the road and when Long Gull Pond was reached in the fall of 1954, the other half was constructed. The road followed the existing rail road line. It was necessary to build three access roads approximately 2 mi (3.2 km) in length in order to facilitate construction of the bypass road. These roads were built to the same specifications as the bypass road as they were used constantly for heavy hauling. The concrete bridge over Cold Creek was built in 1954 and the 60 ft (18 m) concrete bridge over Warm Creek was programmed for completion in 1956. Not counting equipment, 90,000 cu yd (69,000 m3) of fill. 30,000 cu yd (23,000 m3) of crushed rock and 15,000 cu yd (11,000 m3) of earth were used before the final 19 in (480 mm) of paving was laid down. Equipment and material were stored at the Gull Pond site. The bypass road was officially opened to the public in October 1957 and named The Hanson Memorial Highway. The third construction operation was cancelled.

The 347th (changed to the 823rd in 1954) Engineer Aviation Battalion was disbanded in 1957 and most of the men went back to the US. The two battalion commanders at the time were, Colonel Germain and Major Truet. The medical officer was V.H. Berry and the ground safety officer was 1st Lieutenant Arthur Everitt. The general construction on the base (buildings, roads and runways) was done under the base supervision of Colonel Koski and Colonel Bailey. J.A. Jones held the construction contract from 1954 to 1959. From 1956 to 1959, Major Ray was the superintendent for the asphalt, rock crushing and concrete operations for J.A. Jones and was responsible for the construction of 200 on base houses, two seven-story barracks for 1,500 airmen, additional runways and the Central Heating (steam) Plant. Colonel Koski died in 1989 and Lieutenant Colonel Ray died on New Year's Eve, 1989. The two barracks are now used as residences for the College of the North Atlantic as well as a hotel during the summer tourist season.