Friday, September 18, 2020

LTV/Republic/Youngstown Steel (Indiana Harbor West) (BF #3 and #4)

(Satellite)


Scott Romo posted
Some pretty cool clouds driving in this morning.
Robert Husiar: H3-H4
[A comment called these Davy McKee furnace tops.]
 
Ryan Jacob posted
Idled blast furnaces. Part of the old LTV mill in East Chicago, IN.
[I wonder if they were shutdown properly so that there is an option to start them again.]
Don Nicksic: Worked at The old pipe mill (CBW), 84" Hot Strip, Tin mill
Dan Madura: Is that 3 and 4? 
Ryan Fenters: Dan Madura yes

The predecessor LTV plant in Chicagoland was in Chicago. This plant was an expansion of their Chicagoland operation. I was able to determine that LTV was the west part of the Indiana Harbor complex from this statement: "2002 Ohio-based International Steel Group (ISG) purchased the assets of Acme Steel and LTV Steel Company including Cleveland, Hennepin and Indiana Harbor West" [ArcelorMittal]
 
Frank Peters posted
3 & 4 Blast furnaces July 2009,both shutdown due to the economy. I took this picture from the silo’s when I was sent to the lime plant while both were down. Restarted 4 in 2010,3 restart 2011. Arcelormittal west at that time.
Alan Murray: In the background you can see the Galvanizing Cooling Tower at #2 Coating over at Dickey & Riley.
 
Mike Smith posted
Where I started- #3 and #4 Blast Furnaces- LTV
Jim Dutch Holland: West Coating still going. 3 furnace dead forever, 4 furnace indefinitely idled. All finishing, besides coating, were shut down and demo began back under Arcelor.
Jim Dutch Holland: AM screwed us hard before selling to Cliffs. It looks like he had our finishing mills torn down so that he would have less competition for his non union lines down south. The ones that were conveniently not included in the sale.
Charles Podobinski: Jim Dutch Holland Know how you feel.Finished with US Steel in 2019 they shut us [I presume Granite City] down even though our quality was better and more tonnage than their other tin mills.Then they ended up shutting down the mother ship the Gary Tin mill.

Paul Myers posted
[Photo is taken in Youngstown Steel.] Coke train moving hoppers with No. 1 Blast Furnace and Open Hearths in the background. Mark Manufacturing. Inland Steel across the canal. (1923)

Aug 3, 2020: ArcelorMittal is laying off nearly 900 workers because the Covid-19 recovery is weak. This would include the west part (former Inland Steel) as well. [AgMetalMiner]

Aaron Metzger posted
4 furnace Indiana harbor
badge icon
Bleeder pop
You should be around Inland #7 when it goes off ,, nothing compares .
I remember them days seeing the bleeds open.


Aaron's photo allowed me to confirm that #4 is the furnace on the right. He took a shot of the northeast side of the furnace.
Dennis DeBruler commented on Aaron's post
Judging by the roofline of the building, the ore bridge on the left and the pipes going to the right, you have taken a photo of the furnace on the northeast side. So I presume the number for the furnace on the southwest side is #3.

badge icon
Author
 
 yes it is


Dennis DeBruler commented on his comment

 Thanks to your two photos, I think I have finally figured out the standing blast furnaces in Indiana Harbor.
Street View looking East so #4 is on the left
 
Ted Lee posted
Frank Peters: Man I did a lot of work on that furnace to keep it running till 11/2018
Erick Roman: Looking at the roof, did this furnace have 2 cast house floors?
Ted Hein: Erick Roman no. Left side in pic was for the slag run off. Right side had the controls, break room and stock area.
Ted Hein: Phil Jadlowiec looks like 3 furnace IHW ClevelandCliffs.

Mar 14, 2022: Jenn Marie posted
The blue flame means we are still making iron at IH4. Last day of production 💔
 
Nicholas Maggio posted
Hate to see these dinosaurs come down. Old LTV, Now Cliffs Harbor West #3 & #4 BF.
Standing on 4 looking west towards 3.
Cynthia Harverstock: #3 blast furnace will begin to be dismantled April of 2023. Stoves will be the last to be removed. Furnace is priority.
Justin Michael Roth: What are the structures with the large cylinder at the top?
Jenn Marie: Justin Michael Roth they are flare stacks. That’s me up there on IH4 flare stack!
 
Comments on Nicholas' post

Lino Maggio commented on Nicholas' post, cropped
 
Jeremy Miller commented on Nicholas' post
 
Ethan Rentschler commented on Nicholas' post

William Lafferty posted
This is another of the glass slides in my collection I am digitizing, labelled “Indiana. Indiana Harbor. Freighters unloading ore from Duluth. 1930.” This appears to taken from the railway bridge near the mouth of the Indiana Harbor Canal, looking northwest. This would be the plant of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company. The Carmi A. Thompson is in the foreground during its first season managed by the newly-founded Midland Steamship Line, Inc., which would assume ownership of it the next year. Astern appears to be the Edward Y. Townsend of the Bethlehem Steel fleet, although I can't confirm that, then managed by Oakes as part of the Cambria Steamship Company, sister of the ill-fated Daniel J. Morrell, and probably not about to unload ore but coal. Bethlehem was positioned to take return cargoes after bringing ore to the Bethlehem plant at Lackawanna, calling at Erie, Conneaut, and Toledo to load coal for Lakes Michigan and Superior. The Thompson became the third Thorold of the Chicago Tribune’s Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co., Ltd., in 1962 and on 5 May 1963 brought 4300 tons of newsprint to the Tribune dock near the mouth of the Chicago River, probably the largest vessel to ever enter the river. It was dismantled at Humberstone, arriving their 18 December 1971. We all know the Townsend’s sad story, suffering severe hull cracks in the same storm that took its sister, ending its career. It sank at the end of a towline on 7 October 1968 four hundred miles southeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, while on its way to Spain for demolition.
Michael Lackore: That is indeed the Edward Y. Townsend.
Richard Wicklund: It should be noted that the Carmi A. Thompson was one of three twin vessels built in 1917 - One became the first ship of the Soo River Company in 1975, the Judith M. Pierson. The museum ship at the Soo, the Valley Camp, was the third.
Bob Haworth: The Hill was the first to be built in 1917 (Hull 721). The Thompson (722) was second and the Amberg (723) would follow also. The Hill, being the first of her 3 sister built, was the prize for Producers Steamship. In other words she had the most money put into her. Where as the Thompson and the Amberg had steel decks in the crews quarters, the Hill actually had wood and concrete decks inside. Her rooms were also more ornate with oak wainscoting vs the other two who's cabins were steel. She was the first of her design built and to enter service, she was also the first to be taken out of service, and she was also the last to survive.
Malcolm B. Thompson: If they were all built in the same shipyard, that would have been American Shipyard, Lorain, Ohio. If you Zoom in on the Plaque Behind Carmi A. Thompson aboard his name sake it shows where built.
 
Jim Prrfan posted
LTV (YS&T) Ore Bridge. 3-13-04
Jim PRRFan photo
 
Jim Prrfan posted
LTV (YS&T) Sintering plant.
Jim PRRFan photo

Ted Lee posted
#3 and #4 at A.M. west East Chicago.
Did refractory on 4 BF for years, shotcreting and form and pour the runners.
3 is down for good.
 
Mike Swentko posted
Cast house floor of #4 Cleveland Cliffs East Chicago. The Old Ltv.

Eric Love posted
ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor West #3/#4 Iron Production
 
Mike Smith posted
A view of #4 Blast Furnace Slag Pit, from the Scarfer at # 1 Slab Caster
[The #1 slab caster is evidently in the Inland (east) side.]

Raymond Boothe posted
Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company-Indiana Harbor: View of blast furnace No. 3 (YS&T photo/Dr. Raymond Boothe B&W repair)
 
Raymond Boothe posted
Cliffs Steel-Indiana Harbor West: View of Pollock torpedo car (hot metal) car No. 16 (Dr. Raymond Boothe photograph).

Eric Love posted
#4 IHW (LTV)

Dennis DeBruler commented on Eric's post
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6686085,-87.4453664,77a,35y,215.71h,78.99t/data=!3m1!1e3

William Lafferty posted
This is another of the glass slides in my collection I am digitizing, labelled “Indiana. Indiana Harbor. Freighters unloading ore from Duluth. 1930.”  This appears to taken from the railway bridge near the mouth of the Indiana Harbor Canal, looking northwest. This would be the plant of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company. The Carmi A. Thompson is in the foreground during its first season managed by the newly-founded Midland Steamship Line, Inc., which would assume ownership of it the next year. Astern appears to be the Edward Y. Townsend of the Bethlehem Steel fleet, although I can't confirm that, then managed by Oakes as part of the Cambria Steamship Company, sister of the ill-fated Daniel J. Morrell, and probably not about to unload ore but coal. Bethlehem was positioned to take return cargoes after bringing ore to the Bethlehem plant at Lackawanna, calling at Erie, Conneaut, and Toledo to load coal for Lakes Michigan and Superior. The Thompson became the third Thorold of the Chicago Tribune’s Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co., Ltd., in 1962 and on 5 May 1963 brought 4300 tons of newsprint to the Tribune dock near the mouth of the Chicago River, probably the largest vessel to ever enter the river. It was dismantled at Humberstone, arriving their 18 December 1971. We all know the Townsend’s sad story, suffering severe hull cracks in the same storm that took its sister, ending its career. It sank at the end of a towline on 7 October 1968 four hundred miles southeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, while on its way to Spain for demolition.

Bob Haworth commented on William's post
Speaking of the Thompson, here is Carmi A. Thompson aboard his namesake vessel. Not sure of the year or the Photographer.
Ken Potter: Triple expansion engine

Jim Prrfan posted
LTV (YS&T) from NYC (NS) Hick tower.
Jim PRRFan photo
Brendan Brosnan: I thought LTV was on the calumet river across from Acme Stell?
Jim Prrfan: Brendan Brosnan LTV took over Youngstown steel & Republic steels coke plant in South Chicago on the Calumet river.

Bruce Chaffee Jr. posted, cropped
#4 furnace Indiana Harbor, East [West per a comment] Chicago Indiana. 

Comments on Bruce's post
[#7 is going down for a reline. It is nice to see that Cleveland-Cliffs is investing in maintenance.]

LTV on the left, Inland on the right.
Kevin A Heggi posted
Indiana Harbor Works, circa 2005?
Ian Christiansen: That pic is a bit older than 2005. A&B furnace Are still standing in plant 3 (bottom right). Those came down about August 2004 if I remember correctly.
I was on shift the day National blew them down. It was wild watching the shockwave ripple the windows on the bar mill office across the street at plant 4.
Aaron Terres: Ian Christiansen what company were those old furnaces from originally? Also is that a railroad roundhouse above and to the left of the old furnaces?
[Indeed, it was a roundhouse.]
Ian Christiansen: Aaron Terres plant 3 was originally built for the dept of defense by inland to help supply ww2 and purchased from the dept of defense afterwards. And yes that’s the round table in plant 1 visible.
James Torgeson: Ian Christiansen You mean the Defense Plant Corporation. The DOD wasn't created until 1947.
Steve Herrmann: I can just see the 12” bar mill peaking out at the bottom of the pic.
Comments on Kevin's post

Kevin A Heggi posted
Ore Bridges at Mittla/LTV/J&L/YST
JT Willhoit: #2 ore Bridge doesn't get that far North too often.

Kevin A Heggi posted
80 inch temper mill.....Mittal/ltv/yst/
[Note that the rolling stands were built by Mesta.]

Kevin A Hetti posted two images with the comment: "YS&T Indiana Harbor works #3 From a 1952 calendar and my photo about 2008."
1

2

Ted Lee commented on Kevin's post
From 2020

Kevin A Heggi posted
May 2006 first bottle train from YST side to Inland side of Mittal. The success of this lead to a new [blue] bridge over the IH Ship Canal, to link the two plants and allow for mill crews to run the trains.
They crossed on the ej&e bridge, it was an ihb run train. Mittal owned the chicago short line, but they didn't move this.
[I did not know that Mittal owned Chicago Short Line. I presume that Cleveland-Cliffs now owns them.]
John Hawkins: I see they spaced them out.

Kevin A Heggi posted
panorama of the 5 stand Mittal West....aka YST/LTV
Christian Krantz: Where’s the stands?
Jed Ziegler: Another example of Mittal destroying the mills.

Kevin A Heggi posted
pipe and tube mill....ISG, LTV, YST

Kevin A Heggi posted
#4 april 2006 ISG/LTV/YST

Kevin A Heggi posted
Once again, Mark Manufacturing Indiana Harbor works in 1923. Sold to YS&T that year.
Joe Dolan: Is that a Bessemer?
Robert Binius: Joe Dolan yes it is.
 
Paul Myers posted
Once again, 1926 Mark Manufacturing. Sold all holding to YS&T. East Chicago, Indiana facility.

Paul Myers posted
Mark MFG. Indiana Harbor Works. The MIXER. 1923
[I presume this is also YS&T side of Indiana Harbor.]
Dewane Nerison: What does the mixer do ??
Carl Jacobson: Dewane Nerison The pig iron from the blast furnaces was stored in the Mixer tank at over 2,000 degrees. Blast furnace iron was inconsistent, especially in sulfur content, by mixing the casts in a tank, they had a better, more consistent charge for the steelmaking furnaces. Most of the large mixers were built when open hearth furnaces were the new technology. Where I at USS in Youngstown, Ohio, our mixer held 1,000 tons. It is quite a sight to look at that much molten metal!
Jon Matrozza: Look at the worker at the bottom of the mixer without any PPE whatsoever.
[It has been rotated towards its wide to empty the iron into the ladle on the right.]
 
Paul Myers posted
Mark Manufacturing Indiana Harbor Works (East Chicago, IND). circa 1923. Sold to YS&T in that year.

Kevin A Heggi posted
from a stockholder report

Kevin A Heggi posted
#2 open hearth and #2 Bloomer ISG/LTV/YST
Walt E Fles: when was the OH shut down?
Kevin A Heggi: Walt E Fles If I remember right early 80's.
Mike Lynch: Does the one on the right still have the new ladles in it?

Kevin A Heggi posted
"the Milk Carton".....Cold roll sheet mill, Indiana Harbor works
[I spent some time looking panning a 3D Satellite image looking for the tall skinny building next to a vented building, but I could not find these buildings. The comments indicated that A-M wanted to shut it down but C-C is fixing it up.]

Kevin A Heggi posted
Both Ore Bridges ISG/LTV/YST Indiana Harbor works
[According to the comments it is #2 and #3. We also see a couple of Inland's ore bridges in the background.]

Dale Wendell posted
The BOF and Caster facilities of "old LTV Steel" where I worked from Whiting Park.
Jason Morris: 3 SP!

Kevin A Heggi posted, cropped
05-16-2003 New sub car for ISG steel......former YST LTV East Chicago.
Butch Fike: Our shop rolled barrel sections & inlaid them, replaced spouts, rebuilt decks & main centers & repaired & inspected them. But I've never seen a brand new sub ladle.
Robert Borg: Who even builds new bottle cars these days??
James Torgeson: Robert Borg Reichard.
Kenneth Treharn: She's a Beaut. That's probably a hot metal bottle car built by Wm. B. Pollock Co. Youngstown, Ohio.

Mike Delaney posted
Indiana Harbor 1976, plant complex on the right is Youngstown Sheet & Tube. Inland steel was to the left. This was high noon on a sunny day and the dust and dirt in the air you could cut with a chain saw. We arrived with 59,000 tons of pellets on the first trip on the James R. Barker. Not sure what is actually left of the old YS&T side.
Bill DeCicco: In the 1960s Youngstown Sheet and Tube had so much "mail" going back and forth between Youngstown and Indiana Harbor to save money they employed two (2) drivers who drove vans back and forth. The drivers usually met around Toledo and switched vans so that they could return to their respective home base.
Comments on Mike's post

Billy Sokol commented on Mike's post
I'm operating that ore bridge in the picture at this very moment.
Mike Delaney: Thanks, great shot I think they unloaded onto conveyor belts that ran along the dock or into very close bins and the bridges moved the ore farther into the bins. I remember being down in the holds doing cleanup trying not to get smashed by the incoming bucket or run over by the dozers at the same time. That was hair raising. Thanks for the shot!!

Tim Couch posted four photos with the comment: "Cooling tower at old LTV east Chicago.  This must've been an old foundation for something else that they built it on."
Ryan Babjak: Tim Couch the abandoned foundations would be H1 and H2 furnaces. H3 is shut down and H4 is still running.
Jacob Ehrhardt: Tim Couch it’s now the cooling tower for our #9 generator.
Rusty Gribble: Does that base have a salamander in it? If so it’s not really practical to remove without some major work.
A salamander is a mass of iron under the blast furnace. These can extend down and out from it for dozens of feet. It’s very difficult to remove because it’s literally just a gigantic chunk of metal. You’ll see these left in place at abandoned furnaces around the world.
Joseph Fracassa: Definitely looks like Blast Furnace foundation. They had to be very sturdy and able to support upwards of 4000 tons. Any shifting would cause breaks in the lining causing catastrophic leaks.
Sean Spears: I work there. Twenty-two years so far. Those are indeed the foundations from H1 and H2 furnaces. The cooling tower and co-gen facility began construction in the late 1990s and was finished in the early 2000s, shortly before LTV ceased operations.
Sandra Mundell: I check that cooling tower 3 times a shift. On either side are the remnants of old numbers 1 and 2 blast furnaces. The cooling tower and the generator it cools were built for LTV in 2001. On one side of old #1 furnace you can still see what's left of the old hearth and the iron core there.
John Shofroth: #1 blast furnace used to sit there
1

2

3

4

Kevin A Heggi provided two photos as comments on Tim's post:
1
view from the top....

2
and from under

Robin Harens commented on Rusty's comment
does look like there is a salamander in there. definitely would be a pain to get rid of those

safe_image for Cleveland-Cliffs Announces Indefinite Idle of Indiana Harbor #4 Blast Furnace and Notifies of Flat-Rolled Price Increase
Cliffs announced today they will idle their #4 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor, leaving just the large #7 furnace. That will impact shipments of ore from western Lake Superior ports. 

safe_image for Cleveland-Cliffs to indefinitely idle Blast Furnace No. 4, the last one left on Indiana Harbor's west side
Well, I hate to say I told you so.  Cliffs has bought into the climate change crowd and that No.4 is being shut due to lower carbon foot print.  If any more metal is to be needed, an EAF or two will replace it's production.  The only reason No.4 will not be demolished soon is that it will be a standby furnace to take over any production of any other furnace at Cliffs that will be down for reline or extended repair due to an accident or unexpected interruption of production. Cliffs is down to 7 blast furnaces and down to 15 between Cliffs and USS.  If anyone does not think blast furnaces will disappear gradually after 2030 is kidding themselves.  The Biden Administration is putting tremendous pressure on USS and Cliffs to get rid of these furnaces.  Canada is paying their steel plants to replace their blast furnaces with EAFs.  Mexico has one stand by furnace that I doubt is operational.  That leaves a few in Brazil, one small furnace in Argentina and one in Chile and the other on standby.
I think President Trump was wise to take the US out of the Paris Agreement but the present occupier of the White House signed us up a second time into the Paris Agreement and set the motion to kill American jobs.  I don't get those Americans that disagreed Trump's "Americans First".  Well, I am thinking of changing my identity to Rodriquez....
Frank Newton: This was to be expected , it was talked about in the region for awhile . It shouldn't be a suprise . It was a small furnace and sadly its time had come . It needed some major work done to it and when ISG had the plant after the initial bankruptcy years ago ISG ran that entire plant in the ground even further than J&L did when they knew bankruptcy was in the works . Maintenance , preventive and scheduled were thrown out the window . It'll can be hot idled for awhile . Now if #7 at Inland or the two BF's at Burns Harbor were to meet the same fate in 6 months I'd be alarmed .
Richard Allison: I know IH No.4 is a small furnace but I am not taking it lightly because the heart of the steel industry has shifted from Pittsburgh to the Indiana shores of Lake Michigan. Any closings there will be felt everywhere..... Now we are down to 5 operating furnaces on the Indiana shores. Does anyone on here ever thought we would see this happen???? Folks, we are down to 15 blast furnaces in the USA. There are only two in Pittsburgh, two in Cleveland and one in Detroit. There are none in the Birmingham, Alabama Southern District, only two in Pennsylvania, none in the Ohio River Valley and none around Buffalo. Ponder about this for awhile.....

Frank Peters posted
Last time bleeders open 4 Blast furnace ,blowdown 2022. No more blast furnaces west side. 3 & 4 blast furnaces made a good living for mill personal and contractors. Sad to see the end of a great era.
Jim Dutch Holland: 3 supposedly has demo planned for next year. 4 indefinitely idled.

Bob Haworth commented on Frank's post
A sad sight to see indeed.
 
Frank Peters posted, cropped
Last time for the bleeders to open at blowdown #3 blast face Arcelormittal (LTV) 2019
Jeff Butcher: Ahh.. I miss old smokey. 3 furnace was our reliable antique.
Keith Rutlidge commented on Frank's post

John Di Maria commented on Jeff's comment
This was a good one

Frank Peters posted
Dropped large bell H3 furnace August 2018. Arcelormittal west old ISG plant. One hell of a job ,had to remove the top charging equipment. Connection to large bell rod to bell broke.
Steven Goss: Definitely remember that job!! It was a challenge by all trades to get H3 back up and running. Always enjoyed working for you Frank...
Dan Kleinhenz: Ignorant question. Are those road flares making the red glow, and the ashes of burned out ones laying around?
Matt Cawley: Dan Kleinhenz yes. Road flares are used because they will burn without oxygen from the atmosphere. As is said above it keeps the top gas lit. Blast furnace gas is 400,000ppm carbon monoxide Wich is instantly fatal. Keeping it lit converts the co to co2 making it significantly less lethal.
Bert Pass: Most memorable day of my mill career was when #5 furnace dropped it's small bell in. Guys busted ass for 26 straight hours. Only time I had to legit don a SCBA.
Jim Chappell: One hell of a job there! How long it it take to complete the job?
Frank Peters: Jim Chappell about a week working around the clock
[So they did an expensive repair and then are going to tear it down just four years later?]

Stacy Mays commented on Frank's post
Happens everywhere.

Adam Kozuszek commented on Frank's post
Oct 2017 I believe

Frank Peters posted
South dirty gas bleeder change out. 4 Furnace Arcelormittal west. Nice view from bleeder platform.
[Several comments include interesting photos.]

Jim Prrfan
LTV (YS&T) loco repair shop.
Jim PRRFan photo

Brian Dillabough commented on a post, cropped
East Chicago west side

1 of 6 photos posted by Stephen Sostaric
It was a busy evening at Indiana Harbor with four vessels in at once. John D. Leitch, Lee A. Tregurtha, Mark W. Barker, and Pere Marquette 41/Undaunted all in at once. August 8, 2023


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