On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 6:20 PM, Ralf R. Radermacher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This might well be the last shot of Cockerill-Sambre's No. 6 blast > furnace in Seraing, Belgium, in operation. > > Originally closed down for good in 2005, it had been restarted in April > 2008 when Arcelor was short of a good million tons of steel per year. > Now, as always, the steel industry is the first to suffer the > consequences of the economic slowdown. > > Like another dozen furnaces at various Arcelor sites in Europe, No. 6 > will also be shut down - temporarily and until at least February. Or so > they say. > > With another steel boom in the dimensions that we've just had more than > unlikely, this is certainly the last unit Arcelor will be taking into > operation again. The particular conditions at this site (25 km between > the blast furnaces and the associated steel mill) might well lead > Arcelor to stop all steelmaking in the Liège basin, just as initially > planned for 2009. > > Pity really. This used to be one of the more accessible plants. > > Photograph taken last (Sunda) night: > > http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/mypics/770012/display/14860635 > > As always... ;-) >
When I was a kid, there were two places I passed by that made me feel both awe and fear; one was high-steel construction projects (skyscrapers and bridges), the other was factories, especially heavy-manufacturing industries and steel mills. I had visions of men toiling in conditions that made Hell look comfortable. Men with bulging biceps carrying huge ladles of molten steel, or guiding giant overhead cauldrons of super-heated material. There was something heroic about what I could see from peering into such places from the safety of the street. The workers were dwarfed by the huge menacing equipment around them. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to work in there. Even more than your other images, this photo brings those childhood feelings and emotions back. Looking into the mill it's as if I'm looking into Hades itself. This is a great photo! cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
