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HAER;
Satellite)
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Eysa Allen posted
US Steel Fairfield Works Early Days |
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Dennis E. Kizziah posted
Amazing map. I worked at both the Fairfield Works and Ensley Works in the early ‘70’s. |
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Donald Campion posted
Ladies flipping/ inspecting tin sheets at the Fairfield, AL. U. S. Steel Tin Mill.
[I presume they are inspectors.]
Frederick Thomas Shadko: In a skirt!
Gary Sagun: Tin floppers, I remember them well at Weirton Steel.
Peter Manoth: In the Netherlands we had such a department, strictly forbidden for men.
Rick Guy Evans: Our tin mill (Hilton Works) was co-ed in the '70s/'80s... |
I have been ignoring steel plants that are going out of business because there are just so many of them. But I learned that the #8 blast Furnace in the USS-Fairfield Works was one of the most modern, big, blast furnaces ever built in America. But USS decided to get rid of it. I found that Fairfield is a suburb of Birmingham, which I already knew was
a steel town because iron ore, coal and limestone are close by. The blast furnace must have been scrapped by US Steel recently because it still appears in the satellite image (copied further below).
Richard Allison posted two photos with the comment: "These were the blast furnaces all standing at USS-Fairfield Works just after No.8 was just blown in on Oct. 1978. On the second photo you can see steam coming off the slag pit of No.7 and on the right was steam coming off the quenching towers of the Fairfield Coke Works. I have one photo I will add when I find it with No.8 and the old wire mill before they tore it down for the Pipe Mill. These are all my photos."
Richard Allison: No.8 was USS's last built blast furnace if you don't count Gary 13/14 conversion. No. 8 was the nation's third most modern furnace with only Bethlehem Sparrow's Point L Furnace blown in the next year and Inland Madeline No. 7 the last built in the US.
Bob Tita: When did the BF’s at Fairfield close?
Terry Turner: Bob Tita closed in 2015 and demolished (I believe in 2020).
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Bob Clementi
posted three photos with the comment: "USS Fairfield, AL Blast Furnace."
[There are a lot of interesting comments and photos in the comment section. Fortunately, this is a public group.]
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Richard Allison posted
I found this photo by accident but I don’t know any details. This much I know, it is not an Ensley blast furnace but a USS-Fairfield Works furnace, either No. 5 or 6. I am guessing 1950s. The only thing that messes me up is the incline is not very steep but I still think it is not an Ensley furnace.
John Lambert: I think it's #5 because of the piping running "this" way toward the powerhouse. I don't remember any pipe bridge on the east side. Plus I see two large pipes I believe to be cold blast mains for 6 and 7 running across. |
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Raymond Boothe posted
USS Fairfield Blast Furnace (unkn/Dr. Raymond Boothe color enhancement). |
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Joshua Gant commented on a post, cropped
#8 blast furnace USS. Fairfield AL (demolished 2016) |
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Raymond Boothe posted
Casting the former blast furnace at the USS Fairfield Works (Birmingham BN photo/Dr. Raymond Boothe color and size adjustment). |
Donald Dunn
posted nine photos and a video of the demolition.
Is this in AL? Is any of the plant still running?
Johan Gillies Heins
new EAF is firing up soon! [Electric Arc Furnace, so the site is not being closed.]
[If the iron ore in the area has run out, then they can't run a blast furnace. It looks like they are generating enough scrap on site to fire the EAF for a while.]
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| Screenshot @ 0:23, the booms started at 0:13, use the left arrow from Donald's post if this link was temporary |
Richard Allison
posted six photos with the comment: "This is the obituary of USS-Fairfield Works No.8 Blast Furnace. Blow in: Oct.1978. Torn down 2017. You have to admit that USS are experts on tearing down blast furnaces."
[Some comments indicate USS rebuilt the big furnace in the
Great Lakes Works, but they never put heat to it. Everything but the cold mill was idled.]
Brandon Easley: They are experts at idling and demolishing more than just blast furnaces...They bought Lonestar with an EAF, Rolling mill, 2 pipe mills, 4 Heat treats, asweld, standard pipe, specialty tubing and 3 Finishing floors. Immediately idled and demolished the EAF and Rolling mill. The rest got shut down over 10 years and RIP they sold most of the equipment and warehouse spares. It is wasting away.
Alistair LaForme: Yep that’s what they do buy the competition absorb their orders and then say it’s no longer profitable to run the mill and close it.
Brandon Easley: Alistair LaForme they claim Tubular isn't profitable. There are plenty of other competent competitors that are still running and expanding that would beg to differ.
Richard Allison: Tenaris and JSW are bringing in new pipe mills in the Houston area right now. USS is always crying the blues in tubular. I wonder why they can’t be competitive when others can. [And I just learned that JSW has the expense of shipping coils from their
Steubenville Works.]
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Richard Allison commented on his post
I took lots of outside photos undercover. This is my favorite. Taken in 1979 when all were running for a short time. |
I saved some satellite images because they will be disappearing.
I see big coal piles, but I could not find any iron ore piles. Nor could I find the coking batteries and quench tower. Or is the iron ore in Alabama black? There are no big piles of limestone because it looks like they have
two quarries on site.
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2D
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Looking North
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Looking West
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Looking South
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Looking East
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No, it is not the flowing engine house because the caption on this photo implies that they didn't have a blowing engine house. That one 42,000hp compressor in the powerhouse provided the blast. Maybe the above building is the powerhouse.
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Stephen Bloodworth posted
The turbine floor at US Steel's power house, Fairfield Works, Birmingham, AL, 2008. Four 40+MW steam turbine generators, 1 steam turbine 42,000hp coaxial air compressor, putting "wind" on the blast furnace. As seen from the control room window.
Joe Conti: Is this a gas area like the one at ET?
Stephen Bloodworth: Meaning CO? Yes, the primary fuel for the boilers. A father and son died on the maintenance crew of CO gas in the 70's. One trying to save the other. Efficient, in that it recycled the CO waste gas from the BF, but fatal if a leak went undetected.
Florian Burlap Grohmann: I’m so glad this picture exists. You’d be surprised how difficult it is to find photos of various old mill powerhouses due to the BFs being the main point of interest for most.
Stephen Bloodworth: Jim Hewett Jr. Building built in 1917, but gens and boilers from the 70's, I think.
Shane Gibson: My friend says it was a pic from the 100th anniversary tour of the plant. Spent a ton to shine the place up. Looks outstanding |
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| Tom Warner commented on Stephen's post |
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Tom Warner commented on Stephen's post
Dan Brett: Tom Warner is this a GE, Dresser, or Elliott compressor?
Tom Warner: Dan Brett it’s rotor out of a Alice charmers generator.
Dan Brett: Tom Warner I worked at Elliott for 9 years. We made a couple steam turbines for USS Clairton works. Wasn’t sure if any Elliott equipment was in Birmingham.
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Joshua Gant commented on Stephen's post
Here's the monster it fed!! #8, worked on it thirteen years before they shut it down |
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Joshua Gant commented on Stephen's post
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Michael Nix
posted two photos with the comment: "Fairfield works Q bop charge."
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On Oct 20, 2020, they tapped the first heat of steel from their new Electric Arc Furnace. [
BusinessWire,
Facebook]
A video I was not able to find the capacity of the EAF.
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Richard Allison posted
I had the foresight to save this to a disk when I left my company. |
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Bill Winkenhofer commented on Richard's post
FFW #8 |
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Radisson McGuire posted
For your viewing pleasure. The Fairfield works QBOP now the EAF in Fairfield AL. Fairfield Southern SW1001s, scale test cars are bottle cars litter the yard. 2021 |
John Lambert
posted two images with the comment: "Not much use anymore for these P&I prints for Fairfield #8 blast furnace. I never dreamed of it ever being torn down."
Tommy Marchant: That P&ID was hand drawn and hand lettered the old school way, which was before CAD. It’s a lost art nowadays.
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Chuck Pilant posted
FFWorks - MESTA 68 inch hot strip finishing mill stands. Installed 1968, history now...
Contractors vacuumed, cleaned, and painted 3 months for a 20 minute walk through. Lol!
Spit shined! We had just gotten a military contract order and the senators, governor, and USS top dogs were having a walk through.
Kenneth Alvers: Chuck Pilant I figured it was something like that Chuck, or OSHA doing a walk thru. Our's didn't look a bit that good, but we had some record tonnage go thru!
[Some comments indicate that 83" is now the standard and anything less than that is obsolete.] |
Three photos
posted by Joshua Gant with the comment: "View from the top, back and cast floor of #8 furnace,USS,Fairfield Al. It was demolished in 2016 to make way for the EAF we're running now! 13yrs on that nasty monster, I wouldn't trade for anything!!"
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Radisson McGuire posted
Fairfield works Rounds flats bsrr was taking them to the pipe mill at the time of this photo. 2014
Wade Spooner: When I was there they used square blooms for the PPM mill.
Bobby Stanley: Rounds conversion was March of 1999.
[There is controversy about BSRR vs. Fairfield Southern.] |
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Douglas Ward Sr posted
STRETCHER-LEVELER SHEET MILL U.S STEEL FAIRFIELD ALABAMA 2013
Cleve Whatley: The sheet mill is all gone now. I drive by the leveled buildings every week and shake my head.
Stacy Thomas: Cleve Whatley at one time that building was the longest on record under one roof.
Kathy Hicks posted
The Stretch Leveler at Sheet Mill Fairfield Works, Fairfield Alabama: Now torn down. That’s Me in picture on a down turn in about year 2005.
At one point it was in the Guinness book of records as the longest building in the world!
Trebor Nirom: “The thing that hurt Fairfield is we only had a 68-inch-wide slab facility,” Skalnik said. “We didn’t have that 100-inch-wide capability here to roll slabs for automotive purposes. We were pretty much refrigerators, housings, toolbox housings and stuff like that.
David Hulsey Jr.: Don Morton all that’s left is the #5 Galvanized Line,Pipe Mill,the new EAF which started operation in 2020 along with the LMF,VTD and the rounds caster. |
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Steve Turner posted
Here is a picture I found of 1 & 3 Ferrostan Lines @ US Steel Fairfield Works, circa 60's. They are long since gone!
Bob Featherstone: look like galv or annealing lines what is ferrostan ? thanks
Steve Turner: Bob, it is a electrolytic tinning process. I never realized it is a unique trade name of US Steel.
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Stumbled on this site by accident. I'd like to correct something, the furnace was blown in Dec (10 I think) 1978. I was the electrical engineer that designed and installed the furnace controls - most of it was controlling the top, stockrods, and interfacing to stockhouse conveyor. My controls interfaced to the DEC PDP11/34 computer that, among other things, logged events and alarms. I had some programming experience with the 11 (assembly and Fortran) and spent some time helping the Cutler Hammer guys debug/integrate the system. Fun times.
ReplyDeleteSpent April 78-Jan 79 on site.
Had thanksgiving dinner in the hydraulic pump house that was the topmost floor along the furnace. Worked a number of very long days & weeks beginning in September as we 'had orders' to have the furnace online by end of year, for tax reasons we were told.
Still have mementos - A chunk of the first cast, a 'paper weight' furnace model, stickers, a plaque, and a booklet USS published - Visitor guide to #8 Blast Furnace, I think it was called.
Still have my field markup schematics and P&I diagrams that I used.
Would have liked to take a walk through before it was torn down.
At the time, it was the largest producing furnace that USS built - design spec was 5000 TPD which it exceeded most of the time.
I stumbled on this site also and found your comment really interesting. My dad, uncles, and brothers all worked at U.S. Steel, the Fairfield, Alabama and Ensley plants. I, on the other hand, chose a career with AT&T, took programming classes in night school, and eventually ended up working with DEC PDP 11/70s at BellSouth's Birmingham Data Center. I never knew that U.S. Steel employed the same minicomputers. That's really interesting. Our O.S. was mainly AT&T UNIX although some of the 66 machines on our floor used Berkley and some used System 5R4 when it came out.
DeleteI was never a very good programmer, didn't need to be since our job was mostly monitoring, doing backups, and troubleshooting system and datacom problems. I did learn to create a few shell scripts, though, and that was a lot of fun. I was there when they switched to remote operations. We eventually monitored all 2,000 minicomputers in BellSouth's 9 southeastern states remotely from Birmingham, also about 30,000 servers. Another group managed several mainframes.
My, how the industry has changed from the old days. I'll bet you had a lot of fun doing hands-on with the PDP 11/34. I would have loved to have total control over one of those neat machines. I can't imagine how involved y'all were creating interfaces for the machinery in the steel mill. Thanks for sharing!