The HAER record is just photos. There is no statement of significance.
It is interesting that HAER misspelled Dorothy in the caption. This was posted in Facebook and I had a hard time finding my notes for it because of the misspelling.
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| HAER PA,2-DUQU,3A- GENERAL VIEW LOOKING SOUTHWEST, BLAST FURNACE PLANT ON THE MONONGAHELA - U.S. Steel Duquesne Works, Blast Furnace Plant, Along Monongahela River, Duquesne, Allegheny County, PA Photos from Survey HAER PA-115-A Sean Lotarski shared a link Jf Hull: Dorothy 6 won the ironmaster award only because they turned the wind up and burned her down from the inside out...they knew that the end was near and needed a reason to save the legacy furnaces at ET across the river... Sean Lotarski: Jf Hull I read about Dorothy 6. Didn't understand. Can you fill me in please? Jf Hull: Dorothy was a beast, the most modern in the USS fleet... Duquesne was primarily a pipe mill downstream and after oil shock no 2 in '80 order book was filled for five years....they brought a foreman over from ET to get production up and burn the BF's up and get the iron out...hence the Duquesne works iron master and steel master awards....then USS got cocky and bought marathon oil and tried to integrate into the energy Market...in retaliation Exxon, Mobil, and Atlantic Richfield cancelled all of their pipe orders and the end of Duquesne works was written in stone and it was over and closed within a year |
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| ExplorePAhistory |
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| Scribble via 1965 |
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| McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center posted Photo of the Duquesne Mill. Duquesne Steel Works, a steel mill that opened in 1886, once part of the Carnegie Steel Corporation and then U.S. Steel, was the heart of Duquesne. It was home to the largest blast furnace in the world, named Dorothy Six. It is sometimes said Bob Dylan’s song “Duquesne Whistle” is dedicated to it. However, other sources say the song is actually dedicated to the train service that used to run between New York Penn and Pittsburgh Penn Stations. The mill closed in May of 1984. James Torgeson shared Brian Olson: The last superintendent of Dorothy Six told me that the Dorthy furnace did not need a reline when it was closed in 1983. He also said Dorothy could out produce the two smaller blast furnaces at Edgar Thomson that still run to this day. I have yet to hear a logically explanation as to why US Steel didn't supply the more modern BOP shop in Braddock utilizing Dorothy. Stacy Mays: Brian Olson They had a BOP Shop at Duquesne. What really got Duquesne was when they lost out on the caster. They drilled core samples at both ET and Duquesne. They hit bedrock at ET quicker than Duquesne. Ian Hapsias: I didn’t think Dorothy Six was ever titled as the largest blast furnace in the world? Or did it actually hold that title at the time of it’s building? Rick Rowlands: Ian Hapsias largest in the Mon Valley. |
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| Brian Olson posted Was down at the old US Steel National Duquesne Works which is now called RIDC Duquesne. You have to hand it to RIDC. They sure know how to repurpose brownfields. John Rentler: Durabond, a pipe coating outfit, the bought Bethlehems tubular plant and uss old tubular works in McKeesport the bottom picture is older because there is pipe stacked everywhere last time I was down there |
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| Tom Molanick posted Jason Sessoms: I spy Dorothy 6 Stephen Vasy: Yep ! That's Dorothy ! |
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| George Franz posted My second home from 1978-1982. Dorothy #6 blast furnace. USS Duquesne plant. Two taphole furnace. |
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| John Murnan II posted USS Duquesne Works, photo by W.A. Feibelman. [According to some comments, this was Dorothy #6. It had 20 tuyeres and two tapping holes.] Joe Barron: My Dad Joe (Moose) Barron was the maintenance foreman on Dorthey #6 in the 70's until they shut it down. Evan Etzler: I used to work for durabond coating which sits right where this used to be! Very interesting this was before my time but I would have loved to see it. |
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| Kenny Hall posted "Duquesne Works" A P&LE postcard from a watercolor by Howard Fogg. Robert Diak: Blue sky and blue river. Not [Some comments indicate that this was before Dorothy and the BOP Shop were built.] |
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| Claudia Misage posted Just happened to find this, and the picture is a post card. |
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| Phil Wassil commented on Kenny's post |
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| Phil Wassil commented on Kenny's post |
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| Bradley A. Lacko posted Carnegie Steel - Duquesne, PA And yes another from the postcard collection 👍 Scott Gracie: The steel mill postcards often showed no smoke coming from the mills......an early version of photoshop. 😉🙂 Jon Baldock: Steel mill and beer brewey |
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| Tom Rascati posted Another old painting I did of Dorothy 6 [actually, 3] at dawn, back in the early eighties as well as a photo I took around that same period. Joe Barron: That's not the Duquesne Dorothy 6. Looks more like the #3 & #4 blast furnace at Duquesne. Dorthey only had 3 stoves not 4. Stacy Mays: Joe Barron You are right Joe. That is #3, you can still see the lean in the chimney of #4 stove. |
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| HAER PA,2-DUQU,3A- VIEW LOOKING NORTHEAST, BLAST FURNACE NO. 1 |
It is interesting that HAER misspelled Dorothy in the caption. This was posted in Facebook and I had a hard time finding my notes for it because of the misspelling.
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| HAER PA,2-DUQU,3A- LOOKING EAST AT `DORTHY' SIX BLAST FURNACE WITH BRICK SHED NO. 3 IN FOREGROUND ON RIGHT - U.S. Steel Duquesne Works, Blast Furnace Plant, Along Monongahela River, Duquesne, Allegheny County, PA Photos from Survey HAER PA-115-A |
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| Bob Clementi posted Stephen Paterson: Does anyone know the tuyere count for D[Dorothy]-6? Adam Piscitelli: Stephen Paterson 20 tuyeres, 2 taps. |
By 1905 they had four of the blast furnaces built.
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| ExplorePAhistory [This web page has a nice description and several more photos.] |
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| Terry Coulter posted, cropped Terry Coulter shared U S STEEL Duquesne works early 80s Paul Jasinski: Don’t see many river side photos! William Roper Jr.: [Dorothy was] constructed in 1963, shut down in 1984. Bob Ciminel: The river is up. |
Chad Bercosky posted four photos with the comment: "Dorothy Blast Furnace US Steel,Duquesne Pennsylvania."
Stacy Mays: Spent a lot of years working on her. She could out produce any other in the valley. [And there were a lot of blast furnaces in the Mon Valley.]
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| 1 Bubba Dubs: D6 |
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| 4 Jean-Pol Masina: what is this ?? in the furnace ? Bubba Dubs: Jean-Pol Masina that’s a blast furnace control room. The wheel is used to control the blast on the furnace. |
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| Tom Molanick commented on the first photo |
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| Stacy Mays commented on Chad's post Dorothy's time of death. |
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| Michael Stamey posted Pennsylvania Railroad Yard and Freight Department from the Point Building looking toward Duquesne Way. Pittsburgh, PA 1943 Michael Stamey shared |
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| 🅁🄴🄼🄴🄼🄱🄴🅁 🅆🄷🄴🄽: 🄿🄴🄽🄽🅂🅈🄻🅅🄰🄽🄸🄰 posted Duquesne Works of Carnegie Steel Co., circa 1901. Photo courtesy of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Jack Davis shared Vince Ferri: What a friggin mess! Look at the foam along the side of the creek as well as the obvious air pollution. We would never swim in the rivers when I was a kid because of the chemicals that industry dumped into them and the fish were never eaten if caught there. It truly was a real mess. |
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| HAER PA,2-DUQU,3A- 1. LOOKING EAST AT BLAST FURNACES NO. 3 AND No. 4 FROM CRAWFORD STREET IN THE CITY OF DUQUESNE. |
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| HAER PA,2-DUQU,3A- LOOKING EAST AT `DORTHY' SIX BLAST FURNACE WITH BRICK SHED NO. 3 IN FOREGROUND ON RIGHT |
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| HAER PA,2-DUQU,3A- 3. VIEW OF DUQUESNE'S RAIL LINES AND BLAST FURNACE PLANT LOOKING NORTH. DOROTHY SIX IS THE CLOSEST FURNACE IN THE PHOTOGRAPH. (Jet Lowe) [Those power lines are a reminder that steel mills use a lot of electricity even if they don't have electric arc furnaces.] |
"At Duquesne, U.S. Steel added even more iron and steelmaking capacity so that by 1918 it had fully six blast furnaces, thirty-three open-hearth furnaces, and twelve rolling mills." [ExplorePAhistory] So #5 and #6 must have been torn down in the 1960s to make room for Dorothy #6.
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| HAER PA,2-DUQU,3A- 6. GENERAL SOUTHEAST VIEW OF ORE BRIDGES AND BLAST FURNACES FROM ORE YARD. (Jet Lowe) [Ore had to be delivered by rail instead of boat. That is probably why Dorothy #6, even though it was the most modern and productive furnace in the Mon Valley, could not make money in the 1980s.] |
Stacy Mays posted three photos with the comment: "A few more from Dorothy [#6]."
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| 1 66. LOOKING NORTH INSIDE THE CAST HOUSE FOR DOROTHY SIX BLAST FURNACE. THE IRON RUNNER IS IN THE FOREGROUND, AND THE BLOWERS CONTROL ROOM IS IN THE CENTER OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER. (Jet Lowe)  Dennis DeBruler That blower's was for the west tap hole. They used the west side while the east side runners and iron puddle were readied. It was usually done weekly. |
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| 2 73. LOOKING EAST INSIDE THE BLOWERS CONTROL ROOM FOR DOROTHY SIX BLAST FURNACE WITH SNORT WHEEL IN FOREGROUND ON RIGHT. (Jet Lowe) |
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| 3 68. DETAIL OF COOLING WATER PIPES FOR DOROTHY SIX BLAST FURNACE. INTERIOR OF CAST HOUSE LOOKING NORTH. (Jet Lowe) Dennis DeBruler I think it was 2 decks above the deck in the picture on the west side was one of the mainline water supplies to plates. The shut off valve cracked. Management didn't think we could shut the system down, drain it, change out the valve and get it back on without doing damage to the plates. So we encased it in a steel box. It stayed like that till they tore her down. |
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| 1953 Braddock and McKeesport Quadrangles @ 1:24,000 |
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| Stacy Mays posted, cropped |
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| Mike Theisler posted Nobody else wanted this beauty so I grabbed it! Not Youngstown , but rather Duquesne works of Carnegie Steel. Great shot! And a furnace at the end to boot. 1906 on the back caption Pete Steffey: I love those two little octagons buildings near the tracks ? Switchman shanties ?? |
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| Jim Newport commented on Mike's post A bit of not even serious digital enhancement and it cleared up real well. |
An excerpt from a comment posted by Richard Allison concerning a seamless pipe mill at US Steel Fairfield Works in Alabama: "When it was built, I don't think EAFs could make the quality in the 1980s that the blast furnace and Q-BOPs could make. The location of the pipe mill in Fairfield was made because it was close to the energy companies in the gulf and Texas. Over time, EAF technology evolved to be able to make API type pipe and that is when it was decided to get rid of the blast furnace."
Stacy Mays: I don't know enough about coke batteries to talk about the design. But the comment you made about EAF's not being quite good enough. At Duquesne we had 5. The quality led the corporation in the early 80s. Enough so Duquesne was awarded USS's "Steel Master" award for production and quality. Ironically, we also won the "Iron Master" award for BF production and quality then too. The big problem with the EAF's then was the amount of power needed to operate. Before I retired they kicked the idea of putting EAFs at E.T., but the usage put on hold on it.
Stacy Mays: Duquesne had 4 BF's, 2 BOP vessels, and 5 EAF's. The EAF'S were small, if I remember correctly I think they were only something like 3 or 4 hundred ton each. They closed shop in '84, and officially closed in '87. I was there from '72 till the closure.
Richard Allison: Stacy Mays 300t or 400t is pretty big.
Blast furnace Dorothy #6 was built in 1963 and was the last one built at this works. At that time, it was the largest in the world. It was named after the wife of the US Steel president Leslie Worthington. [TheIncline, StateMuseumPA] I have not been able to determine the function of the skinny white tower next to the furnace.
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| HistoricPittsburgh |
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| 1 of 3 phtos posted by Tom Molanick USS Duquesne Works Brian Olson: I was told US Steel actually invested quite a bit of money in National Duquesne Work in the late 1970s, early 1980s when seamless tube was running high then it all came crashing down in 1983. |
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| Stacy Mays posted A fairly nice shot of Dorothy. Two tap holes, and she'd put out usually 1200 tons a cast. She would cast maybe every 4 hours. [So that is six casts per day and 7,200 tons per day.] |
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| Chad Allan Bercosky posted USS Duquesne works blast furnace cast house.circa 1936 Peter Hess: Interesting that this looks like hot metal. The trough isn’t slag. In 1936 the iron may have gone to a Bessemer Converter, looking at the iron pots, could be. Butch Fike: Great shot. Surely casting into a 'thimble pot' & not a sub ladle car. Figure back then it was going either to the Bessemer Convertor or Open Hearth. Pretty clean cast floor for the time. |
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| Chad Allan Bercosky posted |
This not only shows the skip hoist, it shows the large and small bells that alternately seal the top of the blast furnace to allow material to drop down into the furnace. The large bell also helps spread the material.
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| Stacy Mays commented on Chad's post |
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| Roz Christopherson posted View of 46 X 110 Blooming and Slabbing Mill Roll Housing in the Primary Mill Building, U.S. Steel, Duquesne works, Duquesne, PA |
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| 1 of 3 images posted by Frank Jacobs III |
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| Patricia Grace posted USS Duquesne Works by Mary Lou Verrilla. Christmas present for my husband who worked there in the Blast Furnace. Francis Sekowski: Big Dorothy!!!! |
zzz
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| David Janusek posted, cropped Blast furnace Dorothy 6 Duquesne, PA [Comments indicate that this was #1, not #6.] Stephen Paterson: How many tuyeres did 6 have? Stacy Mays: Stephen Paterson Don't hold me to it. But I think she had 24. Jeff Herbert: Need more pictures Dorothy. My dad took me once when i was little to see it before they tore her down it was one of largest blast furnace in Pittsburgh.Not sure how much iron she made . Does any one know how much she did in a day? Stacy Mays: Jeff Herbert She put out around 1200 ton a cast, and would cast maybe every 4 hours. [Stacy has quite a few interesting comments in this post.] |
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| Stacy Mays commented on Jeff's comment Dorothy's time of death. |
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| Stacy Mays commented on Jeff's comment This was inside Dorothy's cast house. |
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| Bubba Dumbs commented on Jeff's comment David Janusek posted Loose barges on the Monongahela River USS Duquesne plant in background. Birmingham Bob: Shippers loading barges with pipe at the National Plant didn't have to wear safety equipment except a life vest (to reduce their weight in case they fell in the river). Also, they would actually move the barges by hand using the river current (obviously the movement was always down river) If the barge got away from them there was an immediate call to the coast guard to catch the barge. Bud Osbourne: Birmingham Bob LOL! The Coast Guard doesn't catch barges, believe me. They would've called Ohio Barge Line's office, at Dravosburg and had them put out a radio call for any towboats in the area to help. Birmingham Bob: Bud Osbourne I stand corrected! Bud Osbourne: Birmingham Bob Duquesne Warf (operated by Union RR) had their own, small towboat, but their crews were not sufficiently trained to catch breakaways, in any kind of current. I suspect that photo was taken during the "Election Day Flood of '84 or '85 and most of those barges ended up wrapped around bridge piers, above L&D 2 (the tank barge ended up on top of the lock wall), or went over the dam and sank farther downstream. I represented some of the barge owners and oversaw many of the Salvage operations. It was quite a mess! George P Suchan: It does look like No. 6 furnace and 3 and 4 to the right. Andy Stevenson: Is that building right on the edge in the water a pump house for the water? |
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| Stacy Mays commented on Andy's comment Yes. For my journeyman pipefitter field test, I had to repipe the prime system for it. And I believe that the screen house is still there. [HAER PA,2-DUQU,3E--28] |
Robert Ruschak has several photos of Dorothy #6 and the works.
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