Released January 22, 2008 | SUGAR LAND
en
Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--U.S. Pipe and Foundry Company LLC (Birmingham, Alabama), a business segment of Mueller Water Products Incorporated (NYSE:MWA) (Atlanta, Georgia), has selected a site and started construction on a ductile iron pipe plant. For more information, view related September 12, 2006, article - Mueller Water Products Consolidates and Expands.
Although several sites were considered for the $45 million ductile pipe foundry, only two locations were in serous contention: North Birmingham and Bessemer, both in Alabama. U.S. Pipe has operational plants in both of these cities, as well as in Burlington, New Jersey. The new 250,000-square-foot building is being constructed across the street from the Bessemer plant. Bessemer is in north central Alabama and lies in a corridor between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. This area has been recognized as one of the best business development areas in the nation. This project will indeed add to that recognition.
The centrifugal cast cement-lined ductile iron pipe foundry will have a capacity of 100,000 tons per year. This will be the first new ductile iron plant built in the United States in more than 50 years. Electric Controls & Systems Incorporated (Birmingham) was selected as the engineering and construction firm for the project. The announcement that the company would expand was greeted with much fanfare, which was able to offset some other recent changes: in 2006, the company closed its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant and expects to lay off 180 employees at its Burlington plant in February 2008.
Installation of the new equipment is expected to start in March 2008, and the entire project should be complete this year. The new processes to be used are modernized, computer-controlled and automated. The old manual pipe-making jobs, which were performed the same way for more than 100 years, will become a thing of the past at the new plant. The new environmental equipment and standards will include a low-emissions manufacturing technique that uses water-based paints and low nitrous oxide annealing oven burners. Also featured at the new plant will be a state-of-the-art emissions control system that will be highly efficient at filtering dust and particles from the air before they can even leave the plant. Employment at the new facility is expected to reach approximately 100 when full production is achieved.
Originally incorporated in 1899 as United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Company, the company was composed of 14 plants belonging to 12 consolidated companies in eight states. Companies in the original consolidation included Chattanooga Foundry and Pipe Company, South Pittsburgh Pipe Works, Howard-Harrison Iron Company, The Anniston Pipe Foundry, Addyston Pipe and Steel Company, Buffalo Cast Iron Pipe Company, Dennis Long Company, Lake Shore Foundry Company, McNeal Pipe and Foundry Company, National Foundry and Pipe Works Limited, Ohio Pipe Company and Wisconsin Steel Company. It is estimated that at the time of its incorporation, U.S. Pipe produced approximately 75% of the production capacity in the United States. Of the 14 plants that composed the original corporation, two are still in operation but under new names: U.S. Pipe's Bessemer plant and the Burlington plant. It's easy to see why the company is considered to be one of the founding fathers of this industry.
View Plant Profile - 1075944
View Project Report - 04003201
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading marketing information services company for the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy-related markets throughout the world. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, IIR provides accurate and timely intelligence featuring plant and project information databases, focused market databases, industry forecasting, key industry contacts, industry and territorial map products, direct marketing services and applications, and daily industry news.
Although several sites were considered for the $45 million ductile pipe foundry, only two locations were in serous contention: North Birmingham and Bessemer, both in Alabama. U.S. Pipe has operational plants in both of these cities, as well as in Burlington, New Jersey. The new 250,000-square-foot building is being constructed across the street from the Bessemer plant. Bessemer is in north central Alabama and lies in a corridor between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. This area has been recognized as one of the best business development areas in the nation. This project will indeed add to that recognition.The centrifugal cast cement-lined ductile iron pipe foundry will have a capacity of 100,000 tons per year. This will be the first new ductile iron plant built in the United States in more than 50 years. Electric Controls & Systems Incorporated (Birmingham) was selected as the engineering and construction firm for the project. The announcement that the company would expand was greeted with much fanfare, which was able to offset some other recent changes: in 2006, the company closed its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant and expects to lay off 180 employees at its Burlington plant in February 2008.
Installation of the new equipment is expected to start in March 2008, and the entire project should be complete this year. The new processes to be used are modernized, computer-controlled and automated. The old manual pipe-making jobs, which were performed the same way for more than 100 years, will become a thing of the past at the new plant. The new environmental equipment and standards will include a low-emissions manufacturing technique that uses water-based paints and low nitrous oxide annealing oven burners. Also featured at the new plant will be a state-of-the-art emissions control system that will be highly efficient at filtering dust and particles from the air before they can even leave the plant. Employment at the new facility is expected to reach approximately 100 when full production is achieved.
Originally incorporated in 1899 as United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Company, the company was composed of 14 plants belonging to 12 consolidated companies in eight states. Companies in the original consolidation included Chattanooga Foundry and Pipe Company, South Pittsburgh Pipe Works, Howard-Harrison Iron Company, The Anniston Pipe Foundry, Addyston Pipe and Steel Company, Buffalo Cast Iron Pipe Company, Dennis Long Company, Lake Shore Foundry Company, McNeal Pipe and Foundry Company, National Foundry and Pipe Works Limited, Ohio Pipe Company and Wisconsin Steel Company. It is estimated that at the time of its incorporation, U.S. Pipe produced approximately 75% of the production capacity in the United States. Of the 14 plants that composed the original corporation, two are still in operation but under new names: U.S. Pipe's Bessemer plant and the Burlington plant. It's easy to see why the company is considered to be one of the founding fathers of this industry.
View Plant Profile - 1075944
View Project Report - 04003201
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading marketing information services company for the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy-related markets throughout the world. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, IIR provides accurate and timely intelligence featuring plant and project information databases, focused market databases, industry forecasting, key industry contacts, industry and territorial map products, direct marketing services and applications, and daily industry news.
