Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. Orford ... - English Heritage

Figure 40: Centrifuge E1, interior showing the main entrance to the right and steps down into the
pit. Also visible in this view are three of the four concrete piers that supported the centrifuge's
frame. The rear door led to the emergency escape way. (c) English Heritage DP068497
gantry that supported a series of high speed cameras that recorded the impact of the
weapon against the wall. During the dismantling of the establishment the wooden gantry
was cut down and sections remain where they fell. On the northeast side of the wall
are a number of spalled areas that mark the positions of impact. To its south historic
photographs show torpedo netting supported on scaffold poles that were designed to
catch the weapon, traces of these poles are evident at the side of the concrete surface.
To the northeast of the wall is an area of largely featureless concrete on which the tracks
for the rocket sleds were placed. These appear to have been semi-movable and were
secured to fixing points along the edge of the concrete area. Also on this slab are a
number of metal grid covers that probably gave access to control and monitoring cables,
and two electrical switch boxes.
Air photographs reveal that the programme to construct a second Centrifuge E1/176
(Figure 39) was begun sometime after 1965, and a typescript Property Services Agency
building list dates it to 1966 (PSA 1973). It was constructed at the western extremity
of the site to the west of the Vibration Test Building E2/136 and within the existing
site boundary (Figure 52). To provide access to the new building a single track concrete
roadway was constructed westwards from the Control Room E4/139. The design of
the Centrifuge building suggests that it too was designed to handle devices containing
explosives. It is a single rectangular concrete structure with gable ends and is covered by
a light, pressed-metal roof sheeting with insulation board beneath supported on three
rolled steel joists with angle-iron purlins. Its north and east sides, which face other
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10 - 2009