V&M helping to curb ‘brain drain’

Published: Tue, January 4, 2011 @ 12:06 a.m.

Staff report

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

For years, local experts in education, employment and business have lamented Youngstown’s “brain drain” — the widespread belief that ambitious young people must move far away from their Valley homes if they are to find good jobs and launch successful careers.

 

Many saw degrees from YSU as the answer to the brain drain, and enrollment there has grown to record heights, but a degree does not create job openings or pay wages and benefits. Viable businesses are still part of the equation.

 

That’s where V&M Star comes in. V&M’s plant — a sprawling pipe mill running between U.S. Route 422 and the Mahoning River — represents an improving future in the Youngstown region. V&M employs more than 300 workers at its existing mill, but local operations soon will double in size with a $650 million dollar additional new mill under construction.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/jan/04/vampm-helping-to-curb-8216brain-drain821/

 

KJP - Any word as far as V&M's plans for the old buildings that sit adjacent expansion site? It appears (from the rendering) that they plan to modernize those as well? A friend & I were hiking/biking through there on a regular basis, but we've since lost track on the progress being made since winter set in.

I haven't heard anything or read anything. I will be at a meeting in Youngstown later this week with people who will probably know the answer to that question which I will ask.

V&M Star guides Girard budget into black

By LINDA M. LINONIS

 

[email protected]

 

GIRARD

...Melfi said a combination of factors led to the city’s being placed in fiscal emergency. The loss of a major employer, Indalex, in 2007 put about 300 workers out of jobs and wiped out 10 percent of the total income tax for the city, he said.

 

The city also faced a declining tax base as some residents moved away or defaulted on paying taxes. The struggling American economy also contributed to Girard’s plight.

 

Now, one could say a “star” is shining on the city in the form of V&M Star, which is contributing to the uptick in the city’s finances.

 

Melfi said the city will get an estimated $3 million from the construction of a plant addition through income taxes on wages of construction workers. Youngstown will get $2.5 million.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/jan/18/vampm-star-guides-girard-budget-into-bla/

Cross-posted from the Booming growth on freight rail thread.....

 

City Could Rebid V&M Rail Work Soon

April 1, 2011 6:39 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The city should be able to rebid the railroad relocation project tied into V&M Star's $650 million expansion project within the next week and a half.

 

The Federal Highway Administration is reviewing the revised specifications for the project, said Chuck Shasho, the city's deputy director of public works. "We're slightly behind schedule to rebid the rail project," he acknowledged.

 

Last May, the city rejected the initial bids for the work, which involves relocating the Norfolk Southern line and constructing marshalling yards and other infrastructure. The bids substantially exceeded estimates, and the scope of the work was altered to be less expensive. The city rejected the subsequent set of bids in November when the Ohio Rail Development Commission concurred with the city's determination that the apparent low bidder had submitted a nonresponsive bid, and two other bidders indicated they might take legal action.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/city-could-rebid-vm-rail-work-soon-p18880-1.htm

I mentioned earlier in this post that a friend & I hike through this area quite often. Well, Spring has finally sprung so I ventured out here yesterday (April 4th 2011) to check out the progress being made on the expansion project. It's coming along quite well!

 

Here's a few photos from yesterday's hike along the Mahoning River. Hopefully no one minds me posting this here.

 

1. Hiking in from Sidley's. There's still a lot of debris left over from the various YS&T buildings that once stood here...

 

2. V&M Star Steel’s $650 million expansion project.

 

3.

 

4. Loads of equipment being moved about the site. Also, note that the lighting has already been installed... this is something that usually doesn't happen until later in most cases of construction work. As far as what appears to be a one legged body hanging from the framework, your guess is as good as mine!

 

5. Workers are carried to and from the worksite via numerous busses.

 

6. Workers leaving the site.

 

7.

 

8. One of the numerous steel workers.

 

9.

 

10. No thanks!!!

 

11. New meets old. One of the former YS&T mill buildings in the background.

 

12.

 

 

 

 

I am so glad someone has taken pics and posted them! Thanks!!!

 

I drove by the site on Friday but it was raining and not a good day for picture taking. I was amazed at how many huge cranes are on site -- probably eight of them. And I knew this project was going to be big (1 million square feet for the main building), but you don't realize how big that is until you see it and compare it to other structures nearby.

 

If you want to see the site, you don't have to hike along the Mahoning River. You can see it on the right (south) side of I-80 as you drive east between Salt Springs Road and US422 near Girard. Or you can exit onto US422 and drive east (more southeast at this section) and look to your right.

 

It's a remarkable sight to see. It's the first time a new steel mill of this size has been built in the Youngstown area in about 100 years (I think the second phase of the Cambell Works of Youngstown Sheet & Tube in the 1910s is comparable in size). In World War II, there was a major expansion of Republic Steel next to Center Street in the Hazelton section of Youngstown, but that's nowhere near as large as this.

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=41.14006,-80.69972&z=17&t=S

That site, I take it? What is going on with the existing YS&T building... reuse?

Yep, that's the site. The adjacent building may be inactive. At least it has been inactive (or at least underutilized) for about 20-30 years.

 

The active part of the old YS&T plant is farther to the southeast between the river and US422, next to the old Division Street bridge (now SR711, which is under reconstruction in the ACME Mapper site you linked). That is the YS&T Brier Hill Works which YS&T shut in 1979. An investor reopened half of the plant in 1982 with an electric-arc furnace, leaving the Jeanette blast furnace abandoned to the southeast of Division Street Bridge/SR711. You can still see some of the ruins of the "Jenny" blast furnace (that Bruce Springsteen sang about in his song "Youngstown", as in "My sweet Jenny I'm sinking down, way down in Youngstown....") which was ultimately demolished in 1997. This is what Jenny looked like when I photographed it five years earlier, and scenes like this littered the valley. It's why seeing huge steel mills under construction in the valley is so stunning to me.....

 

In the rendering you posted above, it looks like the site to the immediate north may be used at some point in the future.

 

I hear you about the steel mill blight. I grew up in the rust belt, and was well familiar with the decline of the steel industry. First with Cyclops/Detroit in Portsmouth, and now the slow demise of the Armco/AK Steel Ashland Works (the coke plant is now shutting down this quarter). Looks like there was a huge shakeup in Wheeling with the purchase of Severstal's plants in Wheeling, Warren and Sparrows Point by Renco Group - now the fourth largest steel maker in the states. Would you have guessed that a decade ago? In 1980? Heck no. At least the plants near Wheeling, which include several idled pig-iron blast furnaces, are scheduled to be reopened after years of inactivity. Can't say the same for Weirton.

In the rendering you posted above, it looks like the site to the immediate north may be used at some point in the future.

 

 

I'm thinking so, too. Else why hasn't it been demolished by V&M, which hasn't even made noises about demolishing it. They recently demolished the old YS&T plant headquarters building next to US422 and SR711, so if those mill structures adjacent to the new plant near I-80 were to be demolished, I think that would have already been part of their actions, or at least active planning. And the rendering shows walkways or conveyors linking the old buildings with the new plant, so I also think that something will happen there -- if the rendering is accurate.

I'm curious to see what happens with the old mill buildings too. They're actually in very good condition aside from the missing sheeting. I photographed them last year (with the cooperation of a Girard police officer who allowed me to wander around the site), unfortunately I lost the images when my computer's hard drive crapped the bed.

 

This project is an awe-inspiring sight and it's great to see it happening right here in the valley. I'll do my best to keep an eye on it's progress.

 

 

 

Thanks Bob. No wonder why you're smiling!

BTW, while I still haven't found anything about the old large buildings next to the new V&M steel plant, I did find this about the closed Indalex plant, 706 South State St, Girard, that's at the SW "corner" of I-80 and US 422.....

 

V&M Star Facility

Estimated Value:        < $5 million

Location:        Girard, OH. In the former Indalex plant.

Details:          Plans call for renovation work that will convert the former Indalex plant into office and limited finishing space for V&M Star.

 

Project News & Notes

August 4, 2010

As of 8/4/10, the agreement to purchase the property for this project is expected to be approved soon.

 

SOURCE:

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/industryforecast/iron%20&%20steel/updates/Oct10_update.htm#_Toc275867953

In Youngstown, an old plant gets new life making pipe for natural gas

 

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11107/1139959-503-0.stm?cmpid=marcellusshale.xml#ixzz1Jv7Us5wo

Great article. Thanks!

Great article. Thanks!

 

No problem! I'm going to throw my gear into the car tonight and head over to the site after I get out of work in the morning... weather permitting.

I may drive by the site on Tuesday afternoon as I'll be in downtown Youngstown in the morning for a meeting. Hopefully the weather will be better than it was last week when I was last in The Valley.

Editorial was far off track

Published: Wed, May 18, 2011 @ 12:00 a.m.

Mayor Jay Williams / Youngstown

 

The temerity on display at times at The Vindicator is striking. Having been involved in several meetings regarding the V&M rail project, I’m amazed by how The Vindicator’s perception of the events differs so vastly with the reality of what transpired.

 

In meetings that generally involved upwards of a dozen representatives working on the V&M rail specs, not once did I notice anyone from The Vindicator participating in the process. Yet, somehow through faulty logic and a twisted understanding of events, the paper attempts to level unwarranted criticism at City Hall? (“Will Youngstown finally get V&M-related project going?” May 12 editorial)

 

How is an engineer’s estimate that was determined in consultation with experts in the rail industry, along with state, federal, and company representatives a result of the ineptitude of City Hall? Please also explain to me how an error by the companies who bid on the rail project is the fault of City Hall? (By the way both the State of Ohio Rail Development Commission, as well as the Ohio Department of Transportation advised the city to reject all bids.) This was done with the concurrence of V&M who indicated that doing so would ultimately aid their construction schedule.

 

Read more at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/may/18/editorial-was-far-off-track/

City Opens Proposals on Rail Work Rebid

June 16, 2011 6:42 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- All four of the bidders submitting proposals for a rail project tied to the new V&M Star mill came in under the city engineer's estimate on their base bids.

 

Great Lakes Construction Co., Cleveland, submitted the lowest base bid for the work, $10.76 million, followed by Marucci & Gaffney Excavating Inc., Youngstown, which bid $10.89 million to do the work. The other bids were submitted by Atlas Railroad Construction Co. of Eighty Four, Pa., $11.43 million, and RailWorks Track Services Inc., North Jackson, $11.59 million.

 

The bid opening took place despite a power outage that had City Hall operating on backup generators for most of the day -- and City Council cancelling its scheduled meeting Wednesday.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/city-opens-proposals-on-rail-work-rebid-p19383-1.htm

Stalled V&M rail work gets on track

By David Skolnick

 

Friday, June 17, 2011

[email protected]

YOUNGSTOWN

 

The city could hire a contractor as soon as next week for a $14 million-plus railroad construction and relocation project for V&M Star’s $650 million expansion.

 

Charles Shasho, deputy director of the city’s public- works department, said he hopes to review the proposals shortly with the Federal Highway Administration and have the city’s board of control approve a contract Thursday.

 

For the third time, the city opened proposals for the work.

 

The city rejected four proposals for this work in June 2010. The project’s original estimate was $13.56 million, but the proposals ranged from $18.18 million to $20.21 million.

 

Read more at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/jun/17/stalled-vampm-rail-work-gets-on-tracksfl/

V&M to Make Melt Shop Decision by Fall?

June 22, 2011 6:46 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- A decision could be forthcoming in the next few months on a proposed $250 million melt shop for V&M Star, reports Youngstown's finance director.

 

The melt shop was part of V&M's early concept officials discussed with city leaders when the $650 million pipe mill V&M now under construction was being discussed, David Bozanich said. "We think that [decision] will be forthcoming probably by the fall of this year," he told reporters.

 

According to the company's original concept, V&M officials said they would eventually need to build a melt shop as part of the process, he explained, so it makes sense to make that decision sooner rather than later.

 

Read more at:

http://business-journal.com/vm-to-make-melt-shop-decision-by-fall-p19422-1.htm

That would great if they move forward so soon on that part of the steel mill complex. I don't recall how many jobs that would create from both construction and operation, but I'm they will be another boost to the region.

Was in Youngstown for a meeting yesterday, so I drove by the V&M site to take some photos. Not only is the $650 million, 1-million-square-foot steel tube plant coming along nicely, but lots of businesses have reopened in the surrounding area and there is traffic again on area roads. Never thought I'd see any of this again in that area....

 

 

Driving by on US422, you can see the new plant in the background and one of the old plants in the foreground. Looks like some work is also being done on the old facilities too. These photos were taken with my Blackberry...

 

 

 

Construction worker traffic is heavy enough on US422 that they have to set up traffic cops and cones for shift changes and deliveries. I had just caught the end of a shift change when I drove in the opposite direction turned around and came back for this shot....

 

 

 

I got up on I-80 eastbound and pulled off on the berm to get this shot. It shows the surrounding area including steel scrap and construction debris sites. The concrete supports are for a four-track Lake Erie & Eastern railroad duck-under of the multi-track Pennsylvania Railroad, built about 1910. There will be similar railroad investments totaling about $13 million in the next year or so to serve the new V&M facilities....

 

 

 

A zoom shot of the previous view, more clearly showing the V&M tube mill. To put the 1 million square feet of this new facility in perspective, the Southern Park Mall in Boardman is 1.2 million square feet. It's BIG! And that doesn't including the surrounding old and new supportive facilities......

 

V&M Star: New Pipe Mill Remains on Track

Sept. 2, 2011 6:48 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- City officials agreed Thursday to lease to V&M Star a 14.6-acre parcel for parking and materials storage as its new pipe mil is being built, a project representatives of the company and local business community say remains on track to start production later this year.

 

V&M, which also operates a mill near the site of the new mill under construction, had targeted a fourth-quarter 2010 production start for the $650 million pipe mill, which is being built to supply the emerging market created by natural gas exploration in the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale.

 

"There is no change as far as when [V&M officials] expect to start production," said Walter Good, vice president, economic development, business retention and expansion, for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, who has worked with V&M on the project for more than two years. "They are very, very firm. There should be no confusion on that," he added.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/vm-star-new-pipe-mill-remains-on-track-p19912-1.htm

Great shots KJP! A friend and I went by the site a few weeks ago on the way into Youngstown, the rate of progress is astonishing. I've considered stopping on 80 a few times myself, but the :police: just whacked me for going 73 in a 55 so I haven't pushed my luck since then, lol.

There were troopers working that area of I-80, but I felt lucky. Plus I never left my car, which is a rather speedy Hyundai Genesis Coupe! I wasn't there for very long. :)

V&M TWO is the company V&M formed to build and own the new $650 million seamless pipe mill just south of I-80 in Youngstown.....

 

Sumitomo Acquires 19.47% Interest In V&M TWO

10/7/2011 1:29 PM ET

 

(RTTNews) - Sumitomo Corporation announced that it has acquired a 19.47% interest in V&M TWO LLC, a manufacturer of small-diameter seamless steel pipe based in the U.S. state of Ohio, from Vallourec S.A.

 

V&M2 has commenced construction of a production facility to manufacture small-diameter seamless steel pipes on a property adjacent to the premises of V&M STAR LP, another Ohio-based seamless steel pipe manufacturer, in which Sumitomo owns a 19.47% interest.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/QuickFacts.aspx?Id=1729931&SM=1

To add to today's good news in the Northeast Ohio steel industry (see: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,26585), I am also hearing from very reliable sources in Youngstown that V&M will move forward with its planned $250 million melt shop and a $100 million finishing plant.

 

If you're familiar with Youngstown, these two developments plus the $650 million, 1-million-square-foot seamless tube mill now under construction is going to mean a near continuous 2-mile-long complex of steelmaking facilities between the old Division Street Bridge (now SR711) and Interstate 80 in Girard.

 

The existing V&M mill (the only active remnant from the old Youngstown Sheet & Tube's Brier Hill Works) and its 85-ton electric arc furnace employs about 450 people. The expansion underway will add 350 full-time workers. The melt shop is projected to add another 50 workers and the finishing mill could add 100 more full-time employees.

 

That's 950 workers total! I expect there will also be many spin-off jobs at steel service suppliers, railroads, trucking, area retailers and more. Already, I was shocked the last time I went through Girard a few months ago that the town no longer had that ghost town look and actually had some life to it. The 400 construction workers onsite are helping to revive the area, which should increase when the V&M tube mill workers start their jobs and the construction work gets under way on the melt shop and finishing mill.

 

There's also a plant being proposed for the valley to make natural gas pumps/compressors. I'm hearing that could add "hundreds of jobs" but the location is unknown. And last week I met a representative for Sherman International which is quite serious about building a cold-rolled steel mill on the east side of the city where part of the old YS&T Campbell Works stood.

Kasich has been making the rounds this week toting up the jobs - 1,000+ in Toledo, more in Marion. Will he be making a stop at V&M?

Marion? Don't you mean Lorain?

 

He won't be at V&M this week, if that's what you mean. He may pay a visit for a groundbreaking next year, however.

Cross-posted from the Marcellus-Utica shale gas thread. Expect an announcement soon about an even larger, $250 million investment in the construction of a melt shop.....

 

$57 million steel finishing mill planned for Youngstown

By DAN SHINGLER

2:49 pm, November 30, 2011

 

Shale gas development is pumping more money into Youngstown, as Houston-based VAM USA announced today that it will spend $57 million to build a steel finishing mill in Youngstown.

 

The company said in an announcement that the new facility would be attached to a $650 million tubular steel mill being built in Youngstown by V&M Star. That facility, about a million square feet in size, is expected to open by the end of next year and employ as many as 400 people.

 

VAM said its facility would open in phases, beginning in the middle of 2012, and would encompass 200,000 square feet. The company did not specify how many people might eventually work at the plant, which is to be fully online by the end of 2013.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111130/FREE/111139979

More......

 

The brown structure next to V&M's new mill is the site of the finishing mill.

 

Breaking News: VAM to Build $57M Finishing Plant at V&M Star

Nov. 30, 2011 12:02 p.m.

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- VAM USA, LLC, a manufacturer of premium pipe connections headquartered in Houston, minutes ago announced plans to develop a new finishing plant here.

 

The company said its plans call for the renovation of a 200,000-square-foot building currently in the V&M Star complex, and located within the "cooperative agreement zone" formed by Youngstown and the city of Girard in October 2009. V&M STAR LP and VAM USA are both affiliate companies of the Vallourec Group, based in Paris, France.

 

Ownership of VAM USA consists of a partnership between Vallourec, Sumitomo Metals and Sumitomo Corporation.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/breaking-news-vam-to-build-m-finishing-plant-at-vm-star-p20502-1.htm

Good news to hear! And this helps clean up a wasteland of a site:

http://g.co/maps/n9bh4

See also this part of my posting from earlier this month....

 

If you're familiar with Youngstown, these two developments plus the $650 million, 1-million-square-foot seamless tube mill now under construction is going to mean a near continuous 2-mile-long complex of steelmaking facilities between the old Division Street Bridge (now SR711) and Interstate 80 in Girard.

 

Two continuous miles of steel producing facilities does a lot to turn a wasteland into a productive setting. I'm trying to picture where they'll put the melt shop, which promises to be of similar size to the 200,000-square-foot finishing plant.

 

I am so happy for Youngstown, where old-timers said the steel mills would never come back and we young people had every reason to believe them.

See also this part of my posting from earlier this month....

 

If you're familiar with Youngstown, these two developments plus the $650 million, 1-million-square-foot seamless tube mill now under construction is going to mean a near continuous 2-mile-long complex of steelmaking facilities between the old Division Street Bridge (now SR711) and Interstate 80 in Girard.

 

What is this melt shop you speak of and will it be by V&M as well?

 

Two continuous miles of steel producing facilities does a lot to turn a wasteland into a productive setting. I'm trying to picture where they'll put the melt shop, which promises to be of similar size to the 200,000-square-foot finishing plant.

 

I am so happy for Youngstown, where old-timers said the steel mills would never come back and we young people had every reason to believe them.

See also this part of my posting from earlier this month....

 

If you're familiar with Youngstown, these two developments plus the $650 million, 1-million-square-foot seamless tube mill now under construction is going to mean a near continuous 2-mile-long complex of steelmaking facilities between the old Division Street Bridge (now SR711) and Interstate 80 in Girard.

 

What is this melt shop you speak of and will it be by V&M as well?

 

Two continuous miles of steel producing facilities does a lot to turn a wasteland into a productive setting. I'm trying to picture where they'll put the melt shop, which promises to be of similar size to the 200,000-square-foot finishing plant.

 

I am so happy for Youngstown, where old-timers said the steel mills would never come back and we young people had every reason to believe them.

 

You don't need to copy what I've said word-for-word elsewhere here. I'm sure you have your own thoughts and words. :)

 

The V&M melt shop is likely to be near I-80 as it offers the largest tracts of undeveloped land that are contiguous to V&M's existing properties and it is at the opposite end of the V&M site from the existing melt shop which is by Route 711.

And lest we forget where we've been........

 

Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 19, 1977

http://freepdfhosting.com/b7482241f3.pdf

 

Milwaukee Journal - Sept. 21, 1977 - Page 1

http://freepdfhosting.com/e320905f20.pdf

Milwaukee Journal - Sept. 21, 1977 - Page 2

http://freepdfhosting.com/1e1990321a.pdf

More........

 

As Shale Drilling Booms, So Does V&M

Dec. 1, 2011 7:02 a.m.

By Dan O'Brien

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The president and chief operating officer of V&M Star says projected rig counts in the energy industry fueled by natural gas exploration in the Marcellus and Utica shale means a stronger market here, which could lay the groundwork for even more expansion of its business.

 

"That's the reason we're here," said Joel Mastervich.

 

Mastervich made his comments shortly after he and Judson Wallace, president of VAM USA, a subsidiary of V&M parent Vallourec, announced that VAM would construct a $57 million finishing mill at the V&M project. The announcement was made during the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber's Youngstown Ohio Utica & Natural Gas 2011 Conference & Expo held Wednesday at the Covelli Centre.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/as-shale-drilling-booms-so-does-vm-p20509-1.htm

V&M Star to advance $2M for rail lines

Published: Fri, December 9, 2011 @ 12:05 a.m.

By David Skolnick

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

V&M Star is advancing more than $2 million to the city to pay Norfolk Southern railroad to relocate rail lines as part of the manufacturing company’s $650 million expansion project.

 

When the railroad company finishes the $2,064,000 relocation project, the city will receive federal stimulus money to reimburse V&M, said city Finance Director David Bozanich, a member of the board of control. The board approved the V&M reimbursement agreement Thursday.

 

The federal government awarded about $18 million to the city in March 2009 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the federal stimulus fund, for rail improvements V&M wanted for its expansion project on the Youngstown-Girard line.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/dec/09/vampm-star-to-advance-m-for-rail-lines/

Isn't this all so exciting? I love driving by everyday. The Jib Jab Hot Dog Shoppe had to hire 10 more people to accommodate the large orders from the construction crews. Girard is looking much nicer as of late, let's hope it spreads throughout the Valley. :)

Here's some music to set the tone for these construction pictures. It's called "Steel on Steel" from the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim....

 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim OST - Steel on Steel

 

 

Work has already started on renovating the pipe finishing mill, a $57 million project. This 200,000-square-foot building, shown below as the long brown building to the upper-left of the new 1-million-square-foot pipe mill, was built in the early 20th century as part of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube's Brier Hill Works and closed in 1979. It is tiny compared to the new pipe mill, which is the size of a suburban shopping mall. This aerial view looks eastward....

 

 

 

The finishing mill doesn't look so small when you travel down US422 from I-80 and you see this mammoth building ahead. Already its rusting roof is being removed, replaced with new cover while new guts for the mill are being ordered and delivered. Meanwhile the sun is rising on a mild December day. It's morning again in Youngstown....

 

 

 

As you get closer to the mill and one of its access drives, you begin to see some familiar Youngstown institutions: a billboard for Youngstown-based Home Savings & Loan, freight trains making lots of switching moves and, yes, steel mills being built, renovated, expanded and churning out steel products once again....

 

 

 

Getting closer, as this CSX train awaits its next assignment (and I am not certain how this CSX train physically got on Ohio Central/G&W rails!), an OC train on a parallel track is in the midst of some switching maneuvers....

 

 

 

One last look, with the old YS&T mill building being renovated into V&M's pipe finishing mill in the background, and new train cars filled with aggregate in the foreground. Welcome back, Youngstown. I missed you....

 

My dad is so excited over this. He's worked for Armco Steel/AK Steel's Ashland Works for over 30 years and remembers a time when the steel industry loomed large over these industrial cities.

Isn't this all so exciting? I love driving by everyday. The Jib Jab Hot Dog Shoppe had to hire 10 more people to accommodate the large orders from the construction crews. Girard is looking much nicer as of late, let's hope it spreads throughout the Valley. :)

 

Oh yeah, the Jib Jab.  been there when I was on a job in Liberty township, and loved it.  Thanks for the reminder.

 

Now, Back on Topic.

Cross-posted from the Marcellus/Utica thread in the business section.......

 

Youngstown Mayor Discusses Fracking Impact on Jobs

 

Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Charles P. Sammarone, mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, talks with Bloomberg's Mark Niquette about the construction of a $650 million dollar mill in the city thanks to the natural gas drilling boom. The factory for Vallourec SA's V&M Star will have 350 workers and produce seamless pipes used in hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. (Source: Bloomberg)

 

SEE THE VIDEO INTERVIEW AT:

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/83944154/

 

EDIT: And there's also this article.....

Gas Boom Has Youngstown Making Steel Again

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-10/youngstown-opens-mills-again-as-states-jockey-for-fracking-jobs.html

 

Posted at:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,22242.msg596798.html#msg596798

A friend of mine was in Youngstown today and got up on the Division Street/SR711 bridge to look at new trackwork associated with the expansion of the V&M steel facilities. He knew about the NS track relocation, which is visible from the Interstate 80 bridge at the other end V&M complex. The I-80 bridge is visible in the pictures below, two miles away in the distance (yes, the V&M Youngstown Works has been expanded to two miles long, much like the integrated steel mills of old!). Anyway, he was not aware of this portion of the project. So just in case all of you aren't, it's listed in #2 below.....

 

 

1. NS Rail Line Relocation for Expansion of V&M Steel Mill

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Communications/Federal%20Stimulus%20Projects/D04-05-MAHTRU-7886-RailModernization.pdf

 

2. Construction of new inter-modal facility and new railroad tracks at the Brier Hill Industrial Park.

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Communications/Federal%20Stimulus%20Projects/MAH-BrierHillIntermodalfacility-86887.pdf

 

And now for the photos. This is the original photo he sent. He's an old rail guy who wanted to get a picture of where Erie-Lackawanna's Brier Hill Yard was located (where the Metalico scrap yard is located -- it feeds V&M's existing electric arc furnace, but a second one is planned but not yet announced). The existing V&M mill is just out of view to the left.....

 

 

 

The original photo he sent was so large that I was able to crop out everything else and zoom in on the railroad construction workers trying to get as much built before having to demolish the Genesee & Wyoming RR (ex-Ohio Central) yard office and close off the access road to the east entrance to the V&M plant (former Youngstown Sheet & Tube Brier Hill Works)....

 

 

The progress keeps on keeping on!

 

 

EDIT: here's a "before" view taken from a slightly different angle from about 5-10 years ago....

 

Where is that bridge at?

 

And why haven't we moved to using concrete ties yet? :(

Where is that bridge at?

 

And why haven't we moved to using concrete ties yet? :(

 

Just west of downtown Youngstown. It's an older highway bridge that was reopened and rebuilt a few years ago as part of the long-planned 711 connector linking I-680 and I-80/SR11.

 

As for concrete ties, their higher cost often limits them to high-tonnage, heavily used mainlines with lots of curves and grades. This new track is for a rail yard, not a mainline (though it was once) and dead-ends about a mile east of this location, just before it goes into downtown Youngstown. This was once the mainline of the Erie-Lackawanna between Chicago and New York (NJ) via Akron, Kent, Warren, Sharon, Meadville, Jamestown, Olean, Elmira, Binghamton and points east. It was also the routing of E-L's busy Cleveland-Pittsburgh freight and passenger services via its own branch to Cleveland via Aurora and Solon, and to Pittsburgh over the 2- to 4-track P&LE via New Castle, Beaver Falls, Alliquippa and Coraopolis. Today, where the P&LE is single tracked, CSX has added concrete ties because it can justify the added cost of them due to the high tonnage of freight traffic. On the double-tracked portions of the P&LE, CSX uses wooden ties because the wear and stresses are much less.

Added a "before" view to the above pictures.

Fantastic scenes and refreshing to see new rail being laid after all these years of destroying our infrastructure and then paying the price economically, socially and physically. Hopefully more of the former Erie will be seeing this....  :clap: