pa1778data.pdf

U.S. STEEL DUQUESNE WORKS
HAER No. PA-115
(Page 124)
off of its northern wall. The set, which converts A.C. current
into D.C. current, consists of a 700 hp Westinghouse synchronous
A.C. motor running at 1200 rpm connected to and flanked by a pair
of direct current generators on its eastern and western side.
The generators on the eastern and near western side of the motor
are each 250 kw Westinghouse Type SK D.C. Generators running at
1200 rpm. On the far western side of the motor is a 40 kw
Westinghouse Life Line D.C. Generator running at 1200 rpm. A 5-
ton Wright-Speedway repair hoist rides on a monorail located
directly over the motor-generator set.
Located along the southern wall at the center of the
building is a main control panel manufactured by the Square D
Company. The panel measures and controls each of the ore
bridge's functions. Just east of the main control panel along
the southern wall of the building are a Westinghouse Ampguard
Control Panel, a Westinghouse Type DT-3 Power Center Transformer,
and a Westinghouse Type DB Air Circuit Breaker. Located along
the eastern wall at the center of the building is the motor-
generator set's lubrication system, manufactured by the John Wood
Company of Conshohocken, PA.
8. Ore Bridge Stairwells and Landings: Steel framed
stairwells and landings leading from the ground to the top of the
ore bridge span are located at the pier leg and shear leg ends of
the bridge.
HISTORY
The raw materials handling and storage system was originally
built in 1896 as part of the construction of a new blast furnace
plant at the Duquesne Works. Its successful inclusion of an ore
yard with a stocking bridge system was such a radically new
principal for its time that it was referred to as the "Duquesne
Revolution." The new system lowered the costs and improved
production flexibility in the handling and storage of raw
materials (i.e. coke, limestone, and iron ore).
Before its introduction, raw materials were dumped from
railroad hopper cars run onto an elevated trestle, and manually
moved by wheelbarrow directly to the stockhouse where the skip
car or bucket was filled. Moreover, because winter weather
prohibited the shipping of the relatively rich ores from the Lake
Superior region by boat, blast furnace operators were forced to
either pay higher transportation costs in order to obtain these
ores by rail during winter months, or use local ores of a lesser
quality.
The construction of the ore yard at Duquesne solved the