Light Gauge steel news from the Americas – January 18, 2008

Friday, 18 January 2008 09:26:27 (GMT+3)   |  
       

Suspected thieves receive only $350 for $80,000 worth of stolen steel

A couple of not-so-bright suspected thieves in Augusta, Georgia were caught this week after selling over $80,000 worth of steel to a recycling center just 600 feet from where the steel was reported stolen days before, the Richmond County sheriff's department told press. 

For the steel, the men received what Richmond County police say might be the worst return on a theft they've ever seen - only $359.20, compared to the steel's estimated worth of $83,805!

Glenn Harlan Stacy, 56, and Timothy Chester Rogers, 47, who had been living in the "Relax Inn" were each charged with felony theft by receiving stolen property after being accused of selling 112 pieces of stolen stainless steel reinforcement pads to a recycling center down the street from the construction company from which they were stolen.

Police explained that the difference in the items' worth from the amount that the suspects received is because the individual cuts of steel were made to order, while the recycling center just gives money by the pound.

Police were alerted to the theft by the owner of A&A Construction, who tracked the metal to the nearby recycling yard. Though Mr. Stacy and Mr. Rogers were identified by employees of the recycling yard as having sold the pads, the suspects contend they found them on the side of the road, authorities said.


90-year old Kane Steel employee shows lifetime of dedication

The Daily Journal in Vineland, New Jersey recently did a profile on a very exceptional steel mill worker at Kane Steel's Milville, New Jersey plant - a man named Bill Mitchell, who is 90 years old, and has no plans to retire.

"Retire? What's that? I like to keep busy," he told the Journal.

Mr. Mitchell started working at Kane Steel in 1956, and since then, has done almost every job at the company, including store manager, sales, forman, inventory clerk, and now a courier.

Kane Steel's president, Cliff Kane, told the Journal that Mitchell, who he has known since he was a child, is an inspiration to other workers.

"When you're around a man that's active at the age he is, it doesn't allow you to complain about your age. You have few people that make you a better person. He's one of those people," Kane said. 

Kane Steel founder Edward Kane said that Mitchell is so talented that he could work at any location in the company, and he has a job for life, "even if he doesn't come to work."

Still, Mitchell has no plans of stopping working any time soon, "After 50 years and still doing it, I want to do something for the company," he said. "I want to see it survive."

Click here to see a picture of Mitchell, or as many call him, "Mr. Kane Steel."

College students compete to build best steel bridge

Civil Engineering students from several Texas and Mexican universities will get to show off their steel construction skills this Saturday at the American Society of Civil Engineers Texas-Mexico Regional Steel Bridge Competition.

Over 150 students from 10 universities in Texas and Mexico are expected to compete in the event, in which students will build steel bridges on site in front of judges. The bridges will then be tested for their load-bearing capabilities, and will be judged based on construction speed, construction economy, lightness, aesthetics, structural efficiency and overall performance.

Robert Yuan, chairman of the Lamar University civil engineering department, which is hosting the event, told press why this competition is so important: "Nowadays, one of the major parts of the infrastructure in this country that needs to be repaired is bridges," he said, mentioning the Minnesota Bridge Collapse last year.

Mr. Yuan is certainly right about that - The US Department of Transportation has a whole section on its website devoted to maps of structurally deficient bridges on the national highway system.

The competition will take place from 9AM to 4PM Saturday at Ford Park in Lamar, Texas.

Roebling Museum to honor steel community's history

The former Roebling Steel Co. in Roebling, New Jersey, the historic steel mill which manufactured cable for the Golden Gate Bridge and for the wings of the Wright Brothers' first plane, and even the wire for the first Slinky, will soon open as a museum dedicated to the steel workers as well as the model town in which they all lived.

From 1905 until the plants closure in 1974, Roebling's workers, mostly Eastern European immigrants, would toil all day at the hot, dangerous mill, then go home to "Roebling Village", the company housing, where workers could rent a house for only $8.50 per month, in the early days.

"The Roebling experience, which the museum will tell about is unique in America," George Lengel, a member of the Roebling Museum board of directors told press. "It's the American dream for immigrants - the jobs, the houses, the unity of it, the cooperation between the Roeblings and their workers," he said.

Some of the planned exhibits include models and photos of Roebling-made bridges; a section on steel-making, with examples of the different-gauged wires the mill made; and photos and writings of the Roebling family, as well as artifacts including a 124-ton flywheel, a block-long crane, a forklift, and a pot in which steel was melted.
Depending on the collection of $750,000 in donations that the museum board still needs to complete the project, the museum, which Lengel says is geared towards "cultural heritage" tourists interested in the broader picture of US history, is expected to be functional by mid-2009.


Similar articles

EU to allocate TRQs for five products from UK to N. Ireland

08 Nov | Steel News

Russia’s stainless steel imports up 4.6 percent in July from June

24 Aug | Steel News

Russia’s stainless steel imports down 9.3 percent in June from May

14 Jul | Steel News

Russia’s stainless steel imports down 10.3 percent in May from April

12 Jun | Steel News

Russia’s stainless steel imports up 84 percent in Mar from Feb

17 Apr | Steel News

Russia’s stainless steel imports down 37.5 percent in Feb from Jan

15 Mar | Steel News

Russia’s stainless steel imports up 11.4 percent in Dec from Nov

11 Jan | Steel News

Russia’s stainless steel imports down 1.9 percent in Nov from Oct

19 Dec | Steel News

Russia’s stainless steel imports down 40.4 percent in Sept from Aug

11 Oct | Steel News

Russia’s stainless steel imports down three percent in August from July

15 Sep | Steel News