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Saturday, February 03, 2007

Interesting facts about the Pentagon

Headquarters of the Department of Defense, the Pentagon is one of the world's largest office buildings. It is twice the size of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, and has three times the floor space of the Empire State Building in New York. The National Capitol could fit into any one of the five wedge-shaped sections. There are very few people throughout the United States who do not have some knowledge of the Pentagon. Many have followed news stories emanating from the defense establishment housed in this building. However, relatively few people have had the opportunity to visit with us.

The Pentagon is virtually a city in itself. Approximately 23,000 employees, both military and civilian, contribute to the planning and execution of the defense of our country. These people arrive daily from Washington, D.C. and its suburbs over approximately 30 miles of access highways, including express bus lanes and one of the newest subway systems in our country. They ride past 200 acres of lawn to park approximately 8,770 cars in 16 parking lots; climb 131 stairways or ride 19 escalators to reach offices that occupy 3,705,793 square feet. While in the building, they tell time by 4,200 clocks, drink from 691 water fountains, utilize 284 rest rooms, consume 4,500 cups of coffee, 1,700 pints of milk and 6,800 soft drinks prepared or served by a restaurant staff of 230 persons and dispensed in 1 dining room, 2 cafeterias, 6 snack bars, and an outdoor snack bar. The restaurant service is a privately run civilian operation under contract to the Pentagon.

Over 200,000 telephone calls are made daily through phones connected by 100,000 miles of telephone cable. The Defense Post Office handles about 1,200,000 pieces of mail monthly. Various libraries support our personnel in research and completion of their work. The Army Library alone provides 300,000 publications and 1,700 periodicals in various languages.


Stripped of its occupants, furniture and various decorations, the building alone is an extraordinary structure. Built during the early years of World War II, it is still thought of as one of the most efficient office buildings in the world. Despite 17.5 miles of corridors it takes only seven minutes to walk between any two points in the building.

The original site was nothing more than wasteland, swamps and dumps. 5.5 million cubic yards of earth, and 41,492 concrete piles contributed to the foundation of the building. Additionally, 680,000 tons of sand and gravel, dredged from the nearby Potomac River, were processed into 435,000 cubic yards of concrete and molded into the Pentagon form. The building was constructed in the remarkably short time of 16 months and completed on January 15, 1943 at an approximate cost of $83 million. It consolidated 17 buildings of the War Department and returned its investment within seven years.

HOW TO FIND A ROOM IN THE PENTAGON



Each floor's layout has five pentagonal concentric rings which are connected by ten spoke-like corridors.
Room numbers are comprised of the following information:
The first number or letter indicates the floor on which the room is located
(B = Basement, M = Mezzanine, 1-5 = floors).
The next letter is the ring on which the room is located.
(Rings are designated A,B,C,D, and E for the Mezzanine and floors 1-5 plus the
additional rings F and G in the basement only.)
The next digit or the next two digits indicates the corridor on which the room is located. (Corridors are designated 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10)
The last two digits indicate the specific bay or room number assigned to an office.

EXAMPLE, to locate room 3D126:
1. Go to the third floor, A ring
2. Proceed along the A Ring to the 1st corridor
3. Go down the 1st corridor to the D ring
4. Turn left and proceed to room or bay number 26

2 comments:

krishna kashyap av said...

WOw..
Really great information..
I was just looking for such a brief
info..
Work from home

Archie said...

Thank you Krishna for the comment.