RUSSULA NEWSLETTER No. 11

RECENT PROJECTS
The giant of Bethlehem roars again in Monclova, Mexico
By Pablo Orvañanos
April 12, 1936
Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point
(A. Aubrey Bodine/Baltimore Sun)
October 8, 1939
Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point
(A. Aubrey Bodine/Baltimore Sun)
October 10, 1951
A worker in the blast furnace at Bethlehem Steel
Co. In the 1950s, the Sparrows Point plant in Baltimore
County was the world's largest steel mill.
(Robert F. Kniesche/Baltimore Sun)
The story starts in 1889, when
steel was first produced by the
Pennsylvania Steel Company at
Sparrow's Point. By the mid-20th
century, the Sparrow's Point
plant was the world's largest
steel mill, stretching 4 miles (6.4
km) from end to end and employing
tens of thousands of
workers. Bethlehem Steel purchased
the mill in 1916 and due
to a superb reputation, its steel
ended up as girders in the
Golden Gate Bridge, as cables
for the George Washington
Bridge, and were a vital part of
war production during World
War I and World War II.
The business was so profitable
that Bethlehem Steel Corporation
acquired the Sparrow's
Point shipyard in 1917. The
Shipyard was one of the most active
shipbuilders in the United
States, delivering 116 ships in
the 7-year period between 1939
and 1946.
Changes in the steel industry,
including a rise in imports and a
move toward the use of simpler
oxygen furnaces and the recycling
of scrap, led to a decline in
the use of the Sparrow's Point
complex during the 1970s and
1980s.
To combat the crisis, in August
of 1991 Bethlehem Steel Corporation
invested more than $200
million dollars to modernize the
Sparrows Point 68-in hot strip
mill. The modernization included
two new 300 ton/hr
walking beam furnaces, a combination
of new and refurbished
roller tables, and a 4-h reversing
roughing mill with attached
entry side edger.
Unfortunately, the big investment
couldn’t stop the downward
spiral of events that caused
Bethlehem Steel Group to go
bankrupt in 2001. Since then, the
Sparrows Point plant has passed
through the hands of four different
owners, including Mittal &
Severstal, who couldn’t do anything
to save the once biggest facility
in the USA. The definite
end to the Sparrows Point plant
came in January 2013, when all
the equipment of the facility was
auctioned to different bidders all
around the world.
Fortunately the 68-inch hot strip
mill quickly found a new home
on the other side of the border,
in the steel city of México, Monclova,
where Altos Hornos de
México (AHMSA) is collaborating
with the best local and foreign
engineers to make the giant
roar again. AHMSA plans to utilize
the 68 inch hot strip mill to
replace their current mill, increasing
their production capacity
by 10%. The actual capacity
of the hot strip mill is 2.8 million
ton/year.
The project is currently underway,
as the foundations are
being prepared to receive the
new mill without stopping production
in the current mill.
AHMSA has contracted Russula
to provide engineering services
for the first stage of this complex
equipment transfer project.
23 Russula Newsletter No. 11 April 2015 - Copyright © by RUSSULA S.A.