pa1778data.pdf

U.S. STEEL DUQUESNE WORKS
HAER No. PA-115
(Page 14)
structure within the metals industry. First, the metalmaking
equipment employed in steel was of a much larger scale than that
used in the production of wrought-iron. The typical puddling
furnace, for example, was limited to a charge of 550 pounds.
This meant that firms which wanted to produce large quantities of
wrought iron were required to employ numerous furnaces, each with
an attendant skilled puddler. Bessemer converters, on the other
hand, could handle charges from seven to fifteen tons. A typical
two converter plant, like the one at Duquesne, was supervised by
only one man called the blower. Second, the equipment used in
the rolling of steel shapes became increasingly automatic with
the development of steam and electric power sources. The
installation of such equipment as continuous furnaces, automatic
reversing mills with their attendant power driven entry, exit,
and runoff tables, and repeaters eliminated the need for many of
the skilled heaters, roughers, catchers, and hookers that
traditionally made up a wrought-iron rolling crew. Third, the
adaptation of steam and electric power sources to material
handling equipment such as electric overhead traveling cranes and
rail transportation made it possible to achieve optimum output
from the new technology. As a result, "throughput" within a
steelworks was greatly increased by integrating its productive
and material handling equipment. Finally, the adaptation of the
metallurgical and chemical sciences to the steelmaking process
eliminated the heretofore valuable visual skills of puddlers and
rollers. This was accomplished by on-site laboratory testing
procedures that could determine the chemical and metallurgical
composition of the steel at regular intervals throughout the
productive process, by developing a line of chemical additives
that could be added to freshly tapped ladles of molten steel.
The combination of the two—laboratory testing and ladle
additions—allowed for the standardization of the production
process for predetermined grades of steel. 15
Despite the fact that the technology inherent in steel
production increasingly made the skills which formed the basis of
the union's strength redundant, the Amalgamated Association
consciously sought to adapt its traditional structure to the
industry. In doing so, it showed an awareness of the
consequences new equipment had on membership rolls by agreeing
not to resist technological improvements, even to the point of
assisting in their development. In return, the association asked
for a pledge from the company to recognize the principle of
15 Nuwer, "From Batch to Flow," 815-33; Brody, Steelworkers in
America, 27-31; Neil F. Dowlan, "Mass Production Systems and
Material Handling in the Pittsburgh Steel Industry," manuscript in
HAER office, p. 1-79, Historic American Engineering Record,
National Park Service, 1989.