- Joined
- Jan 2, 2017
- Messages
- 47
- Reaction score
- 151
- Points
- 33
- Location
- Belgium
- Website
- www.urbanrelics.be
What better way to kick off the new year then to infiltrate in a still operational steelworks? When we took on this challenge, we knew that we would come across motion detectors and that there was active security on the premises. The question wasn't so much IF we were going to be caught, but rather WHEN... We sneaked in under cover of the dark, quickly found our way into the building we came to explore and went up as high as we could. We waited for about an hour, until there was enough light to snap some shots. We managed to go unnoticed for two hours and a half, but once we got back to the ground level, it didn't take to long before we were caught... Upside of being caught is that you don't have to go through all the climbing and crawling we had to do to get in. We were escorted off the site in a police car and dropped off at our parking spot. How handy is that? ?
This steel factory was founded in 1853. When the owner was on the verge of bankruptcy because of the high financial requirements for the construction of a railway, he was bailed out with the financial help of an accountant within his company. After the death of the founder in 1880, he left the company to that accountant, who continued and expanded the company under his own name. By 1897 the company had 1200 employees. By 1913, it had two blast furnaces, two batteries of 41 coke ovens; two steel factories, rolling mills, forges, workshops, etc. During the First World War, the factory was dismantled and demolished, but from 1919 it was rebuilt with new blast furnaces and coke ovens with a production capacity of 200.000 tons of iron per year. During the interbellum, there were more expansions to the factory. The company flourished until the 1970s, but from then on, as with other steel industries, was struck by the steel crisis. The number of employees was reduced to one third. From then on, the company went through a succession of acquisitions and mergers. The current owner, a Russian partner of the last acquirer, has been producing hot and cold-rolled steel since 2016.
This steel factory was founded in 1853. When the owner was on the verge of bankruptcy because of the high financial requirements for the construction of a railway, he was bailed out with the financial help of an accountant within his company. After the death of the founder in 1880, he left the company to that accountant, who continued and expanded the company under his own name. By 1897 the company had 1200 employees. By 1913, it had two blast furnaces, two batteries of 41 coke ovens; two steel factories, rolling mills, forges, workshops, etc. During the First World War, the factory was dismantled and demolished, but from 1919 it was rebuilt with new blast furnaces and coke ovens with a production capacity of 200.000 tons of iron per year. During the interbellum, there were more expansions to the factory. The company flourished until the 1970s, but from then on, as with other steel industries, was struck by the steel crisis. The number of employees was reduced to one third. From then on, the company went through a succession of acquisitions and mergers. The current owner, a Russian partner of the last acquirer, has been producing hot and cold-rolled steel since 2016.
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