Channel: Nuclear Vault

Category: Education

Description: Subscribe to Nuclear Vault bit.ly/SubscribeNuclearVault st.llnl.gov/news/look-back/project-dugout-project-plowshare On June 24, 1964, Livermore scientists executed “Project Dugout,” as part of a series of “ditching” experiments at the Nevada Test Site. The chemical high explosives blasted a “ditch” or channel with an approximate size of 290 feet long by 129 feet wide, with a depth of about 34 feet. The test was conducted under Livermore’s Plowshare effort — a program established in 1957 to explore the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The initial focus of the Plowshare Program was on large-scale earth excavation projects, such as the creation of harbors and canals. An emphasis on such Plowshare civil engineering applications was promulgated by international crises like the Egyptian seizure of the Suez Canal in 1956, as well as long-held interests of the Panama Canal Company in the construction of a sea-level canal. Ditching experiments, like Project Dugout, were designed to develop an understanding of the mechanisms of a row of charges for possible use in the excavation of canals and roadways. One such project under consideration by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) for its Plowshare Program was a 1963 feasibility study, designated “Carryall.” The plan, as submitted to the AEC by the California Division of Highways, the Santa Fe Railway, along with technical support from Livermore, envisioned the use of 22 nuclear devices to blast a massive roadcut through the Bristol Mountains to create a more direct route for the construction of Interstate 40 and a rail line. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.