I continue to be amazed how much steel was processed along the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. Because steel was cast into ingots back then and reheated for rolling, rolling mills could be built away from the blast furnaces and steel converting furnaces (Kelly/Bessemer, open hearth and/or Basic Oxygen Furnace) that made the ingots. The raw material of ingots for rolling mills could economically be transported down the river. (Instead of ingots, the intermediate product might be blooms, billets or slabs.)
"At Benwood, in 1888, Francis J. Hearne produced commercially the first steel pipe made in the United States. Today Benwood is the home of Wheeling Steel pipe and one of the world's most modern mills devoted exclusively to the manufacture of steel pipe. Slabs from Steubenville South are processed into skelp and then formed into pipe (1/2" to 4") by the continuous weld method. Wheeling also produces its own couplings and has facilities for galvanizing large tonnages of pipe. Wheeling's No. 2 continuous weld pipe mill produces pipe of various sizes at speeds from 450 to more than 1,000 feet per minute. Wheeling Steel pipe is widely used for most types of pipe line installations, radiant heating, snow removal systems, conduit and many fabricating purposes including scaffolding and tubular products." [OhioCountyLibrary, 1956]
A predecessor steel company, Riverside Iron Works, started up a 75' x 10' blast furnace in 1872 that could produce 1000 tons of iron per week. That company then produced iron cut nails. In the late 1880s, they added a mill to make steel pipe to help meet the demand for pipes caused by the development of natural gas distribution, boiler tubes and indoor plumbing. National Tube Co. bought the plant in 1899 and soon installed a 500-ton blast furnace. In 1920 Wheeling Steel was formed from companies along the Ohio between Benwood at the south end and Steubenville, OH at the north end. By then, Benwood Works had two pipe mills, and it got its slabs from Steubenville South at Mingo Junction, OH. Wheeling Steel became part of Wheeling-Pittsburgh in 1968. Benwood Works was closed in July 1983. [AbandonedOnline]
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| History of the Ohio Valley posted Manufacturing pipe at the Center Benwood Works of the Wheeling Steel Corporation - May, 1959 [Are those "sparks" blobs of hot steel flying through the air?] John Slowikowiski shared |
A predecessor steel company, Riverside Iron Works, started up a 75' x 10' blast furnace in 1872 that could produce 1000 tons of iron per week. That company then produced iron cut nails. In the late 1880s, they added a mill to make steel pipe to help meet the demand for pipes caused by the development of natural gas distribution, boiler tubes and indoor plumbing. National Tube Co. bought the plant in 1899 and soon installed a 500-ton blast furnace. In 1920 Wheeling Steel was formed from companies along the Ohio between Benwood at the south end and Steubenville, OH at the north end. By then, Benwood Works had two pipe mills, and it got its slabs from Steubenville South at Mingo Junction, OH. Wheeling Steel became part of Wheeling-Pittsburgh in 1968. Benwood Works was closed in July 1983. [AbandonedOnline]
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| Fourth of eleven photos in AbandonedOnline Wheeling Steel Corporation’s Benwood Works is a former pipe mill that closed in 1984 in Benwood, West Virginia. |
Leveltek Processing and JLE Industries now use the site. From what I can tell by the Leveltek's website, they take defective coils that otherwise would be scrapped and turn them into high quality coils by stretching them.
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| Leveltek |
The website for JLE makes it appear to be a trucking company. But AbandonedOnline explains: in 2016, "JLE acquired the space to inspect and repair metal tubes used to drill oil and natural gas wells. JLE refurbished all overhead cranes, added new siding and insulation, poured new concrete flooring, and revamped the electrical system at the cost of $6 million."
Because I accessed some historical aerial photos to look for a coaling tower, I also grabbed some historical views of this plant.
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| EarthExplorer: Sep 1, 1957 @ 31,000; AR1VRD000020065 |
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| EarthExplorer: May 11, 1972 @ 24,000; AR1VCYD00020204 |
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