pa1778data.pdf

U.S. STEEL DUQUESNE WORKS
HAER No. PA-115
(Page 147)
c. Sinter Fines Screen: Located below each sinter bin
feeder conveyor is a 226 ton per hour, 72" x 96" vibrating screen
for separating out the sinter fines from the sinter bins.
d. Main Conveyor Belt: The 48" x 133*-6" long main
conveyor belt (capacity = 260 feet per minute) is laid out on a
north-south axis directly below the bins and screens. It runs in
a southerly direction.
e. Weigh Hopper: A 30-ton weigh hopper is located
below the main conveyor belt at its southern end.
8. South Stockhouse Delivery Systems: The arrangement of
the equipment making up the delivery systems in the south
stockhouse are a mirror image of the equipment arrangement in the
north stockhouse.
Installation Date: 1962.
9. Main Control Room: Located above the conveyor belt
systems on a i6'-0" high steel framed platform approximately 10'-
0" west of the skip pit is an approximately 6 , -0" wide x 10'-0"
long x 8'-0" high main control room for the north and south
stockhouse. Contained within it are lights and switches which
monitor and regulate all activity taking place in the stockhouse
for blast furnace number 6.
Construction Date: 1962.
HISTORY
Originally built in 1896, the raw materials delivery system
was part of the construction of a new blast furnace plant at the
Duquesne Works which consisted of four furnaces. In 1907 two
additional blast furnaces were constructed. The system delivered
raw materials (i.e. coke, limestone, and iron ore) to the top of
each furnace, automatically, and was considered an outstanding
feature of the plant. Designed by M. A. Neeland, superintendent
of the drafting department at the Duquesne Works, the system
enabled the blast furnace plant to set world production records
and cut labor costs by 50 percent. 1
Before the application of Neeland's design, loading or
charging the blast furnace was performed by manual labor. Men
loaded wheel barrows on the ground and drove them to a hoist at
the base of the furnace where they were lifted up by a steam
engine attached to a block and pulley system to the furnace top.
After reaching the top, the barrows were taken over by men called
top fillers, who manually dumped their contents into the
furnace. 2