This 1919 cover shows dozens of workers erecting wooden forms for various concrete pours for segments of Dry Dock No. 4 at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. The accompanying article stated that foundation conditions were “almost ideal … 18 ft fill of rubbish and beach sand, 40 ft of heavy blue clay … [and] the bottom … hard marl, fully capable of carrying the weight of the structure without piles, and almost water-tight.” Draglines did most of the excavating, dumping the spoil into rail cars, which then discharged into barges. Concrete casting was continuous from August 1917 to January 1919, except for one eight-day cold snap. 185,000 cu yd of concrete was used to construct the 1,010-ft-long, 144-ft-wide and 44-ft-deep structure.