Oil for India (Part 1) (sound)

Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> In the immense and ancient land of India, great civilizations have flourished over the centuries. Great rulers have reigned and great men have lived. Saints and poets, artists, philosophers, men of intellectual endowments in every field of human endeavor whose achievements guide us today. India's unsurpassed sculpture and art are but a part of the rich fabric of India's glory. [music] When most of recorded history was still to be written, great cultures, great art traditions and great religions had been created out of the enormous vitality of [music] the Indian people. This creative vitality of the Indian people has burned like a bright flame through the centuries and today as in the past its living [music] force is creating a new progressive nation, modern India. One of the principal instruments of that progress was India's first 5-year plan which had as its objective [music] the transformation of the economy and standard of living of a nation of some 360 million people by peaceful [music] and democratic means. Advanced farming methods are improving the nation's food supply. The plan provided encouragement for the country's industry along with loans to insist [music] mechanization. It decreed new social security and health benefits for workers. Provision was made for new housing and construction of every type. The Indian people took up the reigns of their destiny to mold the future as they pleased in 1947. And today on every hand may be seen the material signs of their progress. Here is the first 5-year plan's answer to India's water needs. A number of immense power and irrigation projects whose completion [music] will one day make this scene a rare one. The very waters of the monsoon will be put to work one day in the future when their rains are impounded by these great dams to irrigate the farms and light the cities of India. >> [music] >> The people of India are giving the strength of their [music] minds and bodies to the new achievements of their nation. And to each of the millions of people who have labored to fulfill the great design of the 5-year plan belongs a share of the credit for his country's progress. [music] [music] In 1949, Prime Minister Neu made this observation on the 5-year plans provision for foreign capital investment in India. >> Indian capital needs to be supplemented by foreign capital. Not only because our national savings will not be enough for the rapid development of the country on the scale we wish, but also because in many cases scientific, technical and industrial knowledge and capital equipment can best be secured along with foreign capital. Here in detail is the story of an important application of this policy. It takes place in Bombay, sometimes called [music] the gateway to India, a city of nearly 3 million population, a modern city whose streets and squares are thronging with cars, [music] buses and people. It is November 19th, 1954. Today the newspapers announce an event of special importance to Bombay and to all of India. The Standard Vacuum Refining Company of India Limited whose headquarters are here in Bombay has the pleasure to announce the opening of the Stanvac Bombay refinery constructed with the cooperation of the government of India. The official opening will be with appropriate ceremonies. Place the refinery site at Tromb Bay north of the city. The guest of [music] honor and principal speaker will be the honorable Shri KC Reddi, Minister of Production for the Government of India. Let us attend the ceremony. Buses from Bombay provide transportation for some of the guests. Others arrive by car. [music] [music] The grounds and buildings of the great industrial plant are gayely decorated for the occasion. [music] [music] [music] In 1914 when this car was new, the standard vacuum organization had been serving India for over 20 years. Today, 40 years later, this sign welcomes guests to a ceremony commemorating a new phase of that service. Almost a third of India's petroleum needs will be fulfilled by the ultramodern refinery being formally opened today. [music] >> [music] >> The visitors enter the exhibition tent [music] where they see the story of oil's usefulness told in photographs, charts, and illustrations. [music] Surya Kamari, a popular film star, [music] demonstrates a new automobile, consumer of many petroleum products. The exhibit shows how these automotive products and many others are now being made in the refinery. The story of the oil industry's role in technological progress, the history of oil, and man's neverending quest for this wonderful raw material. >> [music] >> It's almost time for the ceremony. Now, guests begin to walk toward the big shamana in which it will take place. More than 3,000 people are here today to celebrate this important event. >> [music] >> The guests are treated to a bit of entertainment. [music] [music] Now the speakers arrive. They are Mr. CB Marshall, vice president and director of Stanvac in New York, Shri KC Ready, the guest of honor, and Mr. W. A Williams, managing [music] director of the refining company. [music] The first speaker is Mr. Williams. >> A symbol of progress, the kind of progress which will light the way for India's march toward economic security. Those of us who have been intimately associated with the development of this industry realize that a bit of magic has occurred before our eyes in the past 2 years. The very land on which you are sitting today was a wilderness of scrub and weeds as late as December of 1952. We began as early as 1947 looking for a site that would support heavy industry. It had to be on a deep water harbor with rail and road transportation also available. It had to be located near a large metropolitan area and yet be far enough away from the city to allow for expansion and development. Trump Bay, I am happy to say, offered all of these advantages and many more. >> [music] >> The 280 acre site was occupied on December 25th, 1952. [music] Surveyors check the boundaries and plot the contours of the land on maps to guide the grading [music] contractors. Workmen begin to clear the trees in heavy brush from the area. The fell trees are soon cut into lengths and the firewood carried [music] away. The task of clearing the site is carried out by Indian contractors with the help of these giant bulldozers and other modern equipment. 90% of the clearing and grading work will be [music] completed in 75 days from the time work was started. [music] After the non-essential trees are cleared, another huge task begins. That of grading and preparing for the heavy construction soon to follow. In addition to grading and leveling, more than 5 m of roads must be constructed within the refinery area before heavy equipment can be moved in. The task of earth moving all told is a [music] major job of surgery on the Trobe landscape adding up to 320,000 [music] cubic yards. [music] At the end of January 1953, only one month after work was begun, the site looked like this. Much of the ground has been cleared and grading of the area to be occupied by the huge combination unit and other processing equipment is well underway. [music] >> [music] >> These massive foundations must be rooted deep in the earth by the combined efforts of man and machine. [music] The operators are men of skill who work the controls and spin their iron monsters like dancers, grasping the earth with steel fingers that weigh tons. But machines cannot perform all the jobs. Hundreds of contractors employees [music] bend their efforts to the task. As the work progresses, [music] the daily labor force will swell to an army numbering as many as 7,500 at one time. [music] >> [music] >> And included in the working force [music] are hundreds of strong, supple women who work side by side with the men, each contributing her bit to the vast project. [music] Concrete is mixed at first in small portable power mixes. Concrete work began even before roads were complete, before trucks could be used on the site. For time is precious in the race against the approaching monsoon. So the first concrete is mixed on the job and poured by hand. >> [music] >> Heavy steel rods are used to reinforce the concrete floor slabs. Now the concrete patching plant is completed and takes over the job of mixing the more than 24,000 tons of concrete that will go into the completed refinery in floors, buildings, and the foundations of the processing units. As each pouring sets, it is kept moist to allow the concrete to cure properly for maximum strength. The foundation for the huge combination unit must be deep and strong and laced with steel for it must support the tall towers, heavy drums and miles of piping weighing hundreds of tons in all. The [music] main construction contract was awarded to the Lumis Company of India whose 60 years of specialized international experience [music] includes the building of some 250 oil refineries. But various Indian firms handle the subcontracts for many phases of the work. [music] As the foundation for the combination unit nears completion, its first large vessel, the hot catalyst hopper, is being unloaded from a ship in Bombay Harbor. A specially built truck and trailer wait for it on a barge. The huge [music] steel cylinder, 56 ft long and weighing over 70 tons, must be cradled on heavy timbers on the truck. >> [music] [music] >> Big as it is, this gigantic steel vessel will be surpassed in size by others still to come. Yet even this one is too heavy to pass through the streets of Bombay. Trailer and load must be placed on a barge and floated [music] to Trobe where a special road has been constructed by hundreds of workmen for the sole purpose of transporting these massive burdens to the refinery area. At the peer head, a sand crib has been built in the water to receive the barge which is towed into position at high tide. When the falling tide brings the truck level with the pier, it is driven off and to the site. With the 1953 monsoon season approaching, [music] the work is pushed night and day. The steel frame of the combination unit begins to take shape. The site is ready for the rains. Big concrete pipe for drainage is unloaded for work must continue if possible during the monsoon otherwise construction would come to [music] a complete standstill. [music] Vast stockpiles of supplies and equipment are covered with waterproof tops. Check dams and spillways to control flood waters are completed. Huge open drainage ditches to carry off rainwater into the sea are rushed to completion by a [music] workforce of hundreds [music] and then in mid June the rains began. This was to be one of the worst monsoon seasons in [music] almost half a century. In the first few weeks, more than 40 ines of rain fell here. In spite of the bestlaid plans, some parts of the site soon are heavily flooded with water. Nevertheless, [music] the work goes on. Mechanical equipment nearly drowned in mud keeps up the job of changing the Trobe landscape. And despite the trying conditions, substantial progress is being made. [music] We can see the combination unit taking shape, the foundations of the boiler plant and the beginnings of the treating plant. [music] Wet or not, the construction force keeps up the battle against the elements. At the batching plant, trucks are loaded with more concrete for floors and foundations of shops and other structures at various parts of the 280 acre site. Sturdy beams are swung into place by the steel riggers, then secured in place by welders. A 165 ft guide derek is erected in a central location so all the heavy processing equipment can be swung into place without shifting its base. The temporary boiler which [music] will furnish power for the derek is installed. Workmen apply a thick coating of heavy asbestous insulation or lagging which is mixed on the spot. Now the refinery guide Derek stands ready for the gigantic [music] burden that waits on a ship's deck in Bombay Harbor. The fractionator absorber tower 137 ft in length 93 tons in weight. Chains that bind it to the deck are loosened. The dockside crane stands by. The great tower swings through the air. Below the specially built 26- wheeled trailer [music] awaits on its barge. Carefully the tremendous weight is lowered to the trailer bed and secured. Again, the loaded barge will be towed to the roadhead at Trobe Mole, where workers are repairing monsoon rain damage. The ticklish process of landing the trailer begins. >> [music] >> The driver starts the powerful motor in lowest gear. The truck slowly moves the immense weight over the trestle to the road. [music] At first, all seems to be going well, but not for long. The wheels have sunk deep into the rain soaked ground. Here's a real sticky problem for you. [music] But all is well. After the wheels were carefully cleared and big timbers inserted beneath [music] them to prevent further sinking, the heavy tower was eventually hauled to the site [music] without further event. Here all has been made ready for the mighty job of hoisting the big process units into place. As each gigantic load is raised, forces of many tons are controlled by the winchman to the fraction of an ounce. A task requiring the utmost precision and years of experience. There are four [music] of these huge vessels in the combination unit. Each must be lifted high in the air and lowered exactly on its base. In addition, scores of other heavy elements, drums weighing 40, 50, even 70 tons, have to be fitted into their places in the steel work and welded fast. The combination unit being installed here is of the most advanced design, far more efficient than earlier and larger models. In the combination unit, the once separate processes of crude distillation, fluid catalytic cracking, and reforming are combined into a [music] single processing unit. A great advance in the refining art. [music] assembling this huge structure calls for skill and teamwork [music] of the highest order by the riggers. No wonder that at the opening ceremony, the managing director of the company paid tribute to the crew which did this delicate job. I took my friend down to the job and pointed out the craftsman who was manipulating the huge guide Derek from which a giant tower swung precariously in the air. The rigger fingered the controls of his machine as a trout fisherman plays a fish on the end of his line. In his fingers were 30 years of sensitive feeling and training equal to the precision and skill of a surgeon. The man carefully set those many tons of equipment down on a platform many feet in the air with no more tolerance than a fraction of an inch. When it was over, my friend heaved a sigh of relief. He turned to me and said, "The engineers dream up the problems, but it takes the practical man to thread the needle." Yes, it's the practical men combining many skills who actually put together the most complicated structure. The carpenters, plumbers, pipe layers and masons, plasterers and electricians, welders and woodworkers, riggers and diggers. a multitude of skilled artisans for the multitude of specialized tasks that go into the construction of an oil refinery. And there is volume as well as variety. The size of the storage tank construction job alone can be measured in the thousands of tons of steel plate and millions of gallons of capacity with literally miles of tank welding within the refinery. In general, over a 100 miles of piping must be installed, connecting tankage to processing units and the units to each other. Many buildings will soon stand in the shadow of the great towers. Here will be the administration building. Here [music] workmen prepare the foundations for part of the housing development for Indian workers who will live near the site. The housing development when complete will represent an expenditure [music] of 25 lakhs of rupees and furnish resident employees with comfortable accommodations. >> [music] [music] [music] [music]