pa1778data.pdf

U.S. STEEL DUQUESNE WORKS
HAER No. PA-115
(Page 33)
Finally, the metallurgical testing capability of the works was
enhanced by the construction of a new testing laboratory.
Employing the most modern testing equipment available, the new
•Met Lab' allowed technicians to conduct examinations of product
characteristics with added speed and precision, thereby
expediting delivery of orders to customers. In addition to
testing materials produced in the mill, the modern facility also
allowed on-site metallurgists to augment work being carried on at
U. S. Steel's research center in Monroeville, Pennsylvania,
regarding research into production problems and product
improvements. 44
Shortly after the modernization program at Duquesne was
completed, the mill became the primary supplier of raw ingots to
the Corporation's National Works in nearby McKeesport,
Pennsylvania. This happened because the increasingly archaic
iron and steelmaking facilities at the National Works threatened
its competitive position as one of the nation's leading producers
of tubular products for the domestic oil and gas industries. As
a result, the blast furnaces and open-hearth shop at the National
Works were shut down in 19 65, giving way to the more modern
facilities at Duquesne. Four years later, the link between the
two mills was made permanent as their operations were combined
and put under one management, the National-Duquesne Works. 45
In the years following the creation of the National-Duquesne
Works, market inroads made by foreign steel producers caused the
Duquesne site to become increasingly dependent on the ability of
National to produce tubular products than on its own ability to
produce specialized semi-finished blooms, billets, and bars. By
1982 well over 50 percent of its semi-finished shapes were
shipped as blooms to the pipemaking facilities in McKeesport. As
a result, Duquesne's bar producing capabilities declined
drastically. Only the 22" bar mill remained in operation after
the mid-1970s. 46
44 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 30, 1962, November 3, 1964;
"Will Build Laboratory at Duquesne." Blast Furnace and Steel Plant,
Vol. 45, No. 3, (March 1957): 355.
" 5,I U.S. Steel Makes Plant Changes," Blast Furnace and Steel
Plant 53 (November 1965) : 4 8; "Duquesne and National Being
Combined," Blast Furnace and Steel Plant 57 (February 1969): 173;
Warren, The American Steel Industry, 287.
4b John P. Hoerr And the Wolf Finally Came: The Decline of the
American Steel Industry,, (Pittsburgh: 1988) : 140; Steve Chomanics,
Maintenance Foreman, interview with author, July 18, 1989.