| 1868 |
John H. and Harvey K. Flagler started making welded iron
tubular products in East Boston, Massachusetts. |
| 1870 |
Flagler Brother purchased the works of Fulton, Bolman
Company of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, which was shortly to be reorganized
and incorporated under the name of National Tube Works. |
| 1872 |
In April, ground was broken for the new butt weld
mill. By September 13, the first of 4 planned lap weld furnaces
was put into operation making 2" tubing. The lap weld
building was 160 feet wide and 360 feet long. |
| 1873 |
Radical departure in bending together with a new idea of
scarfing the plates enabled National to make pipe up to 15" O.D.
and 20 foot lengths = the largest pipe made anywhere at that time.
In April, fire destroyed the entire lap weld mill. Rebuilt and
back in operation by the end of the year. |
| 1874 |
An old-style butt weld mill was built having 2
tong-welding furnaces and 1 bending furnace. |
| 1876 |
Fire destroys the butt weld mill which is rebuilt
immediately haveing 3 butt weld and 1 bending furnaces.
A new method was incorporated in this mill called "Tag and
Bell" which sharply increased production; was used only
experimentally before in England. |
| 1878-79 |
The owners of National Tube Works organized an independent
allied company, the National Rolling Mills Company, which operated four
rolling mills, adjacent to National Works, to produce their skelp. |
| 1880-81 |
No. 5 and No. 6 lap weld furnaces were built. This
increased output 50%. |
| 1886-87 |
a. The company erected a 400 sq. ft. building,
equipped with six Siemens butt welding furnaces and the most improved
machinery for threading and testing.
b. No. 7 and No. 8 lap weld furnaces were built, due to
increased demand for pipe by natural gas coming to the forefront.
c. National Tube Works was the first to make butt weld in 1
heating.
d. National Tube Works also invented the first charging
machines for charging plates into the bending furnaces. |
| 1889 |
Monongahela Furnace Company constructed two blast
furnaces on property adjacent to National Rolling Mills Company, which
was later to become the nucleus of the present steel works. |
| 1890 |
No. 9 and No. 10 lap weld furnaces were built,
and the number of butt weld furnaces was increased to 7 at this time.
The movable draw bench was invented by the Chief Engineer of this plant
causing a great increase in production. |
| 1891 |
a. Owners of the National Tube Works, who
were also the owners and financial interest behind the Monongahela
Furnace Company, Boston Iron and Steel Company., the Republic Iron Works
(South Side, Pittsburgh) and the National Rolling Mills Company,
consolidated under the name of National Tube Works Company, their
capitalization being $11,500,000
as compared to $3,000,000 of National Tube Works.
b.
The company switched from coal fired skelp bending furnaces to
regenerative gas furnaces of which there were over 30 throughout the
plant. |
| 1892-93 |
As a a result of the
success of experimentation in this country, and Europe during the
1880's, with the utilization of steel as a material for making pipe, the
Bessemer Converters and the Steel Rolling Mills were built in the Steel
Works area. This put an end to the old puddling furnaces and iron rolling
mills - National Rolling Mills Company ceased to exist. |
| 1894 |
a. The 11th Lap Weld Furnace
was built. It was the first furnace with electric motors to operate the
welding rolls. The rolls of all previous furnaces were operated by shafting and
jack shafting from underneath.
b. The back charge process for making butt weld pipe
was invented and in connection with the movable draw bench, served to
boost the works output of butt weld pipe. |
| 1897 |
No. 2 Lap Weld furnace was remodeled to make
30" pipe. |
| 1899 |
The National Tube Company was formed from a
combination of the majority of the pipe and tube mills in the country,
16 in all. |
| 1901 |
March 3, under the laws of New Jersey the United
States Steel Corporation is organized, the National Tube Company being a
part of this organization. The new concern controlled,, under a single
management, roughly three-fifths of the steel business of the entire
country and had a capitalization which at par reached the unprecedented
figure of $1,402.,846,817. |
| 1907 |
The Main Pipe Mill building, 560 feet in width
and 1548 feet in length, was built with a pipe yard and open crane
runway measuring 56 feet in width and 936 feet in length. Twenty gas
producers were built for lap and butt weld mills. |
| 1908 |
Six new Butt Weld Hills built in Main Pipe Kill
Building, capable of making pipe from 1/8" to 3" in maximum
lengths in some sizes of 22 feet and in other sizes of 41 feet. |
| 1908 |
Twelve modern, motorized Lap Weld Mills are built
in the new Main Pipe Mill building, with ranges of pipe from 4", to
24" O.D. and in lengths varying from 22 feet to 42 feet. At the
time these 12 Lap Weld Mills were completed all of the old original 7
bending Butt Weld and 11 Lap Weld furnaces were dismantled to provide
room for new shop buildings. |
| 1930 |
a. The addition of billet storage to the
Main Pipe Hill building, measuring 85 feet in width and 720 feet in
length was made.
b. The addition of the No. 1 and No. 2
Seamless Hot Mills capable of manufacturing seamless pipe ranging from
3-1/4" O.D. to 24" O.D. with maximum lengths of 48 feet.
c. The new converting mills, consisting of
three 25-ton converters, was built.
d. The old gas producers were dismantled
and replaced by a main line 5792 feet long extending from Duquesne
Bridge to the northwest corner of the Main Pipe Mill building to carry
coke oven gas from Clairton Works. This piping consisted of:
36" diameter pipe (520 feet), 30" diameter pipe (4394
feet), 24" diameter pipe (487 feet), and 20" diameter
pipe (391 feet). |
| 1931 |
The new Open Hearth, equipped with 3 - 200 ton
tilting type furnaces, was built increasing the capacities for steel
making. |
| 1937 |
No. 3
butt mill was scrapped. |
| 1940 |
No. 1 lap mill was scrapped. By this-time all 12
lap weld mills had been dismantled and replaced by Seamless operations. |
| 1944-45 |
Now warm work unit was installed in the Pipe
Mill. This Installation increased the production of deep well casing
from Bessemer steel. |
| 1946 |
No. 1, 2, 4, 5
and 6 butt mills were dismantled. |
| 1949 |
The Blast
Furnace department was provided with a sintering plant of 500-ton per
day rated capacity. |
| 1950 |
a. The new Electric Weld Mill was built for
manufacturing 26" to 36" O.D. electric welded and expanded
steel pipe with wall thickness 1/4" to 1/2" in 40 foot
lengths.
b. The new Central Boiler House was put
into operation. The building was 187 feet long, 127 feet wide and 87
feet high. The building houses 5 boilers, each designed to generate
175,000 pounds of steam per hour and 850 psi gage at 750 degrees F. in
the super heater outlet. The boilers may be fired with blast furnace gas
or pulverized coal alone or in combination. Coke oven gas is used for
boiler ignition. |
| 1954 |
a. The No. 1 Blooming Mill was rebuilt in
1954. It provided a new modern two high reversing mill replacing old and
worn mill.
b. The two new turbo-blowers were installed
in the blast furnace blowing room and are designed to deliver 90,000 cfm
of air at 25 lbs. pressure to assure adequate blowing capacity for
sustained 4 blast furnace
operation. The turbine end of these blowers operate on steam at 850 lbs. pressure and 750
degrees F., and exhaust at 150 lbs.
pressure into the existing plant steam system.
c. We acquired approximately 5-1/2 acres of
storage and shipping space from the Wood Works plant of the Irwin Works,
of the United States Steel Corporation, which neighbors our plant on the
west end. |
| 1955 |
a. The new
peeler machine was built locally in the west end of the 13" Mill
building, and put in operation in May, 1955.
b. In order to maintain a lead position in
the competitive market for deep well casing, authorization was given for
the installation of facilities for increased production of high yield
casing at National Works. Scheduled for completion in late '55 or early '56. |
