 CB&I was chosen because of their reputation and skills, particularly welding.Since the coastal shipyards were busy building large vessels for the war effort, such as aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers, there was no alternative but to use the inland waterways and shipyards for the production of smaller ships.As a result of these and other wartime production activities, CB&I ranked 92nd among US corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.