Posted January 22, 200619 yr I go to Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. I have been here nearly three years and seen the tall blast furnaces make up the skyline, but I have never ventured onto the property as it is fenced off. Well this Friday, I finally got my chance. With my new course, Evolution of High-Rise Building Construction, our first day we were surprised with a tour of the plant. I was more than ecstatic. He are some pictures of the plant. The portion of the Bethlehem Steel land that you'll see in the picture is the location of a redevelopment plan that centers around a casino. Most of the buildings left on the site now will be refab for upscale retail and condos. The modern infrastructure you see was built in 1997 as a redevelopment effort by Bethlehem Steel, City of Bethlehem, and the state of Pennsylvania. Five blast furnaces remain of the seven total. The building in the lower left is the oldest building on the site. More blast furnace pics One of the many machine shops on site Heavy Tooling Building had smaller blast furnaces and cranes to move material Overhead crane up-close Machine shops Headquarters building The headquarters up close The Main Gate The Iron Foundry Inside The Iron Foundry Deteriorated portion of the Iron Foundry More shots of the blast furnaces The side of the engine house Engine shop on left and Machine Shop No. 2 on right. Notice how long it is. Iron Ore Transport Tracks Close-up of Blast Furnaces This is the area where the two demolished blast furnaces once stood. Machine Shop No. 2 Blast Furnaces Again Inside the Engine House These are some big nuts! The Welfare room or the lockerroom. Workers would place their belongings in these baskets, then use the pulley system to lock them in place, then they would lock them in place. Much more space efficient than lockers for 31,000 employees. Machine Shop No. 2
January 22, 200619 yr Thanks for the excellent tour. I love this stuff! Dirty and noisy and dangerous as they were, those old mills were amazing, inspiring places when they were running. I think that somewhere, a facility like this ought to be kept just as it is, protected from vandalism and theft but otherwise left open to anyone who wants to go in and explore. I was about to ask if the engines were still in place, when I came to the photo inside the engine house. Some of the old mills stayed with reciprocating steam engines to run rolling mills and pump air for the blast furnaces, right up to the end. Part of the reason was the tremendous cost of converting to electric motors, but a significant element was the huge amount of waste heat that the industry generated as a by-product. Some of it could be captured to generate steam to run the machinery at comparatively little extra cost. Some of the engines they used were gigantic.
January 24, 200619 yr wow, great thread thx. what an opportunity. as a steeltown kid this is my kind of thread. the skies used to be a hellish red/orange all day and night, but when they put in scrubbers the air cleaned up overnight! makes you wonder why they bothered to tear down any of those blast furnances? the whole complex should be left as it is. it is a monument to the high point of american industrial history if there ever was one.
January 24, 200619 yr I once interviewed for a job with the Public TV station in Bethlehem and got the "nickel tour" of the steel mill while I was there. This place has a great history. I was told during World War II it was considered a prime target for either sabotage or enemy bombers, because one of the products produced there were the 16-inch guns for US Navy battleships like the USS Iowa, Missouri and New Jersey. Hence, wartime security was very tight. The steel for the Empire State building and a number of major bridges and skyscrapers was also made there before and after the war. I understand the effort currently is to turn it into a kind of historic site with displays and other uses for the property. It's days as a steel mill may be long gone, but it would be an even greater shame to lose these structures. They are a living reminder of the hard-working men and women who made these mills run. Nice pix !
January 25, 200619 yr Scarey....but kinda cool at the same time. I hope this never becomes the scene in Middletown.
February 11, 200619 yr Fascinating. The steel mills of PA might be considered "dinosuars," but they are a constant reminder of power. I hope abandoned steel mills are never torn down.
February 12, 200619 yr I love this stuff, too....I guess im a "metalhead" as im into mills & foundrys. Theres a good song about the place..too...sung is sort of that Gamble/Huff "Philadelphia Sound" style, but by Grant Lee Buffalo Bethlehem Steel There was a light blue as a welder's torch It used to shine over the fields And all the wise men strong men were drawn for miles Followed a star to Bethlehem Steel Our mother's father worked here in World War Two On the main floor operating the drill And in his open palms little splinters remind him of The booming days days of Bethlehem Steel But the steeples on the hills they point To a better life beyond this one And that promise penetrates the clouds And mighty walls of brick red cinnamon Ah ah Take a walk past Lazarus Moving n' Storage Behind the Goodman's Furniture Store See the smoke stacks rise on up to heaven's step While on earth we're burnin' this miracle iron ore But the steeples on the hills they point To a better life beyond this one And that promise penetrates the clouds Even when they block the fiery sun The sun There was a light blue as a welder's torch It used to shine over the fields And all of the wise men strong men were drawn for miles Followed a star to Bethlehem Steel Then they fade out doing this riff... Bethlehem Steel Bethlehem Steel Bethlehem Steel Bethlehem Steel Yeah Steel Yeah Steel Bethlehem Steel Ah Steel Bethlehem Steel Bethlehem Steel Yeah Steel Steel Yeah Steel [A scrap of a phrase - Spoken] Oh Steel Ah Steel Great song, great tune, great industrial relic.
February 12, 200619 yr wow, awesome shots JMR! Do you have visuals from the plans they have for the site?
February 26, 200619 yr i was just in allentown the other day, why is pennsylvania so brown, everything is brown
February 27, 200619 yr i was just in allentown the other day, why is pennsylvania so brown, everything is brown Because we're earthy people? Actually, since brown is a mixture of red, blue and yellow, brown is a very stabilizing color. Stabilizing - like a keystone. And Pennsylavnia is The Keystone State! :-D
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