Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of an exterior view of the Department of Public Works rubbish incinerator plant, Los Angeles, ca.1935. At center, a long, two-story building is pictured, flanked on either side by two smokestacks. Just in front of the building, a smaller, brick shed can be seen, along with automobiles and people at right. Additional information: This facility is burning combustible rubbish (no household garbage) consisting of wood, paper products and brush. The rubbish can be identified by the loads on the trucks that are lined up to deliver their loads to the plant. There was a raised concrete drive, or loading road, which ran between the two plant buildings. The trucks would drive in between the two plant buildings, dump their loads onto the charging floor where the rubbish is then would be fed to the incinerator furnaces. The plant could be using heat to generate steam to run force draft blowers to ensure the complete combustion of the rubbish. The incinerator furnaces are below the loading floor, thus the need to raise the road between the two buildings as the furnaces are only partially below grade. This incinerator plant appears to be operating four incinerator furnaces, hence, the four smokestacks. Also, "It was operated by the City of Los Angeles within the City of Vernon until December 1943. It was a four furnace installation of the "beehive" type with direct charging holes on the operating floor (charging floor) to allow rubbish to be fed to the furnaces. The facility was used primarily for the disposal of commercial rubbish from the downtown areas of the City of Los Angeles as designated by ordinance" -- Norman B. Hume, "History of Efforts at Incineration in the Los Angeles Area", 1967.
Type
image
Format
1 photograph : photoprint, b&w 13 x 18 cm. photographic prints photographs
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