Bethlehem Steel Footage (1990) 🏗️ See Channel for Book Link
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- A Bethlehem Steel Rigger crew working on an ore bridge at the Bethlehem plant of Bethlehem Steel. Filmed by Larry James Neff on November 16th, 1990. Dedicated to our friend and brother Rigger Pete Chando.
I remembered clambering around on the ore bridges when I was summer help "electrician's helper," in 1969. Never made it to the top; just to the level of the hoist machinery, which was constantly breaking down, being about a hundred years old by that time. Replacing motors and light bulbs was the usual fare. Everything--and I mean EVERYTHING--in the Bethlehem Steel works was a hundred years old, but the company kept making do. The only new addition was the BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) which can be seen in some of the footage. I think I saw the old Electrician's Shanty where we spent our time waiting for a breakdown and something to repair. I had a fear of heights initially, but soon got over it, walking out on the cranes to get to a stalled trolley to replace a fuse or do some other light repair work. It was particularly "interesting" in the Iron Foundry, clambering around sixty feet in the air over puddles of molten iron slag. On night shift, the blast furnaces put on quite the show when they were tapped and the sparks flew and molten steel poured out. I'm 72 years old now, but the memories are fresh as yesterday.
Thanks for sharing that, Steve. I've visited Bethlehem a few times, but never got to see the steel mill in operation. Cheers!
As a former steel mill worker, I approve of this video.
I just met Larry this weekend. He gives tours at the old steel mill. It is now called “Steel Stacks”. His stories are amazing and really provides some personal insight to what it must have been like to work at this mill back in the day. This guy was tough as nails and his stories pulled no punches and didn’t sugar coat the past. I highly recommend taking the tour if you’re ever in Bethlehem PA.
Having a camcorder in 1990 was a pretty big luxury. Especially one that would record in that quality. Thanks to the camera man.
Terrific video. Part of American history we should not forget, especially the folks who did the real work.
I was just here today. The giant crane the men are standing on is still there, locked into place and now is a billboard for the Sands Casino. The ore pit under the men is now where the casino is. Most of the buildings in the video have been demolished, except the huge half mile long #2 machine shop. Very, very sad. By 1990 when this video was taken only a handful of men still worked here vs the 30,000 who did during the 1950s. Most of the place was already defunct and unused. The Beth Steel main office building is also still standing you can still see the office inside the windows. Even by 1990 this type of huge, sprawling steel mill was way outdated compared to modern mini mills.
I think they built a museum where the offices were
@@dofth1258 the industrial museum is in a building that was a well house I believe. You can walk the old tracks they were filming right under the big blast furnaces. It's cool that they preserved some of it. The tour is cool too. Every time I go here for work I spend a day at the steel!
Not a crane. It's an ore bridge. So pathetic what happened to Bethlehem steel. Now it's a casino that produces nothing except the need for more cops
What st is the one in the video?
They still use bridge cranes like that at US Steel in Gary
The Company and People who built this Great America!!!!!
That same company squandered a ton of money and never upgraded their facilities and now we dont make steel in the US anymore.
The good old days when Bethlehem,PA was a true blue collar factory town. May god bless hard workers like this; true salt of the earth people.😢
Northwest Indiana is still like this! I’m proud of the steel legacy here.
Seeing this place light up the sky especially during snow storms was majestic.
Little did these great men know , they were maintaining what would end up a giant Casino sign 😔
that's so cringe
@@aussiejezzait's true tho
I'm pretty sure they were aware that they wouldn't be working for much longer by this time. Probly why they decided to record it.
Omg that's awful. I remember seeing the name Bethlehem on the support beams at my mother's house. Bethlehem steel was obviously the powerhouse of steel in the US back in the day. Terrible whats became of it. Could the NAFTA bill being signed into have anything to do with it closing down
@@scotthomberg141bethlehem steel was falling well before this video. I beliesince the late 70s early 80s, but it was a slow decline caused by various factors. It wouldn't close until 5 years after this video
My late Grandfather used to work on that crane before he past away in February 1990
One of the most American videos I've ever seen.
This is so cool! November 16, 1990 , a Friday, was one day before the Lehigh vs Lafayette football game so I can place this day with a concrete memory. I grew up in Bethlehem so the steel and its profound presence is a part of who I am.
Those are some real ass men right there. From Northwest Indiana - much respect
huge amount of respect for these men. Just awful the plant has shutdown. I hope it's preserved for decades to come. People must know what built America!
Preserved for what? It's the very problem with the Lehigh Valley, nobody ever wants anything to change and they always want it to stay the way it was. Ironic, it's the very reason they didn't keep up with competition and modernize to win. It ultimately drove them out of business. I say keep a nice decent museum then rip out all the rot and decay and move on. The Lehigh Valley needs massive change and renewal. They need a future of hope and possibility, not a constant dwelling of the past. Sadly, it will never happen because everyone there still wants the 'good old days'. Honest, hardest working people, arguably better than anywhere in the country, and all that resource and talent goes to waste because there is little opportunity and hope for the future.
wasn't it a workers lawsuit over retirement and pension benefits that lead to Bethlehem's bankruptcy and the plant closure itself?
I wish we had the same respect for the steel workers and manufactures as we with our veterans. Our workers built maintained our country and before the 60ds those jobs were deadly. Its sad to see how quickly both veteran's and workers are cast to the side when their job is done.
I never saw a veteran stand around for 7 hours out of an 8 hour day and complain about how over worker they are.
@@johnbauer9628 most veterans don’t deserve respect and any soldier today is used to import our degenerate American culture to the rest of the world. also I doubt you’ve ever done a hard day’s work in your life
Most people don’t have the nerve or the balls that Ironworkers do either…..😉
I live in Bethlehem and this is something I love to see, as it was apart of my fathers side of history.
This is wonderful. Thank you for capturing this. Billy Joel: "Well we're living here in Allentown. And they're closing all he factories down." So sad to see what's become of a once strong and vibrant manufacturing nation.
Very sad. Scary, too, considering we've sold out to China. Even scarier, is having a "president" that doesn't support America or Americans.
You can thank the actions of Republicans, Democrats, foreign steel dumping, NAFTA, and boomers for that.
Biden is an utter crock of shit for selling out his supposedly industrial, old fashioned roots in the Lehigh Valley region.
Just discovered this video today 22-Oct.-22, hats off to ALL who worked here through the years. We ALL owe YOU a great amount of thanks for building the the world we enjoy today.
Greetings from Florida. My Dad was an Electrician, worked on the Precips in these plants. I remember seeing the Flames off the stacks at night as a kid. I would have been there in the mid 1980's. This Video was like stepping through a time machine. Thank you So Much to the Iron Workers that built this place. Ty for sharing. 🔥🌟
Boilermakers built the blast furnaces also.
This is easily the most terrifying video I've ever seen. Couldn't make it all the way through. A camcorder in 1990 was a pretty big bulky thing, and this dude is skipping across trusses 200 ft in the air. At work, I have to take safety trainings on proper sitting etiquette and how to use a keyboard safely. These guys would kick my ass just out of principle.
how dont they fall? you learn not to fall.
I was a union apprentice Ironworker (local 736) in the summer of ‘99 working for Canron construction when we built a replacement ore bridge for Dofasco steel in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada🇨🇦. One of the best jobs in my life….😉👍🏻👍🏻
I used to live across the water from the mills in Hamilton. Remember seeing the steam from quenching the coke when it came out of the ovens (though at the time I didn’t know that was what was happening). I worked for 2 summers for a company that made refractory products for lining blast furnaces, smelters, etc. It’s all gone now.
Now nothing more than a parking garage. Thanks for sharing a moment in time.
Am I the only one with sweaty palms watching this? Amazing video footage of Bethlehem Steel at Bethlehem, PA. Thanks for sharing!
My Poppy worked here for decades before retiring to Florida.
Wow thank God we have these memories
I thought this was in Pennsylvania. That's where I came from. J+L Steel, American Bridge, Babcock + Wilcox, US Steel, Bethlehem and more! Now it's all a forgotten part of our lives. Empty, barron land. The towns have turned into low rent hell holes that have no shops left. The towns are falling apart. A very sad stat of affairs.
It IS in Pennsylvania, I live {for 50+ years} about 1/2 mile from the blast furnaces. And they STILL ARE THERE. Now part of the local arts scene called "Steel Stacks" at ArtsQuest. Also on the property is a casino, hotel, shopping outlets. Granted, people working there aren't making USW wages, but then that was the problem to begin with. Oh, and it's BARREN - you spelled it wrong (one R) and it's the wrong kind - not Baron - as in 'von Richthofen.' 🤪
Yes, we used to be decent people in America. Now I'm ashamed to live here
Bethlehem Pennsylvania the Christmas city.
One brave electrician (Motor Inspector, Craneman, Welder, and Riggers) is to be filming up on this ore bridge mostly welder riggers a welder since they are repairing the bridge structure span. I did this kind of work in the 70s and 80s and love it, scares me to death now just watching now? These were one tuff guys to do this kind of work, not the sissy they raise today that has to have safe spaces
Great video, we didn't move to Bethlehem until 1990, and I was so young I don't remember it ever running, so it's pretty cool to look at this and see how it was back then
Somebody was making some bucks for a camcorder that steady and clear in 1990
Very strange..this was recorded on November 16th and it just so happens to pop up today on my feed. Lol!
It’s a shame how this once incredible company was shut down, and put so many people out of work. I know back in it’s heyday living in Allentown, and Bethlehem must have been a pleasure with a thriving economy, and bringing families together. So sad. Wish we could go back to yesterday.
I grew up in Bethlehem in the 70s. I don't remember that as being so great but of course at that point the company was in decline. I've been back many times since and although it was a painful transition for everybody associated with the company, Bethlehem is a lot nicer place to live now. That doesn't mean I don't lament the passing of what was at one point a great american corporation.
You are so right! Bethlehem was the greatest place to grow up. My entire family worked at Bethlehem Steel, including me for a few summers. I remember when a trip to Allentown was as good as going to New York City, with Hess's, Leh's, Zollinger-Harned Department Stores selling the finest and most varied merchandise. My dad took us there every two weeks, so he could stock up on his favorite beer-Horlacher's! And the Christmas display put on by Hess's rivaled anything that Macy's or Hammacher-Schlemmer had on offer! Those truly were the days, my friend.
Not sure what it is about steel mills that interest me, but they really do. I used to live in PA and kinda miss those days of going past them when traveling with my family or going out with just my mom to do errands 😕
My family were ironworkers. My grandfather would tell me stories of building huge bridges built from this steel. My father talked about building the Astrodome with this steel. My uncle (a steamfitter) would talk of building ships by the hundreds during World War II. The US could not build any of them today, much less a hundred. You can count the number of large shipyards on one hand and really only one which can build or even maintain the largest of them. Fight a world war? It would get ugly really quick because after about two weeks everybody would be reduced to fighting with sticks (or worse, not at all). All of that to say this: sometimes it costs a lot more trying to be cheap.
I lived in South Bethlehem and drove past this every day
I'm surprised that our steel mills out here in N.W. Indiana is still running after 100+ years in the making. A lot of other steel mills closed down due to competition over seas on cheap steel and the economy. Wow memories on the steel industry.
Our company bought train loads of steel from Bethlehem, USS, Lukens, Inland, Gulf States, and so many other producers that are now out of business.
Lukens' mill is still in operation, owned by Cleveland Cliffs now
Nov 18 1995 Bethlehem steel closed
But you can still see the amount of trash that sits under the bridge
Good union man right there. Weld for 10 seconds, stop, take a drag off his Winston, flip the visor down and keep welding
Used to have a client in Bethlehem and I was just absolutely floored seeing steel stacks for the first time. Accidently took the wrong way in and out of town every time I went there.
Both my Grandfather and his brother worked for Bethlehem Steel at different times. My Grandfather worked at the Grace Mine (he either left and worked for the Reading Railroad or left the Reading Railroad and worked at the Grace Mine) and his brother worked at the Bethlehem Steel plant. We don't know exactly what job they had when working for Bethlehem Steel. Both passed away and lived in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
Can't imagine working 25+ years here then have it just shut down. You're to young to retire and to old to start over.
Grew up watching these big machines at work.
I live near here and this is all abandoned, rusted, and falling apart now. The consequence of shipping all our jobs overseas
The consequence of capitalism driving down labor costs to the lowest possible value.
No the consequences of lousy management and a work force that got very lazy and abused the plant via the Union. Every aspect of the plant, management, work force, union etc are all to blame for the demise of this nations steel plants. Then couple that with cheaper steel from China with considerably high quality and low prices= good by Bethlehem Steel
Many of the guys that use to work there told me that they use to find places to crawl into a sleep a good portion of their shift, many use to do this I was told by numerous guys that worked there at one time or another. That's the kind of shit that helped China kick our ass in the Steel industry
@@V0lk Idiot.
I'm from europe and have no idea how i got here but i really like this video. I was born the year the video was taken, wonder how old those men are now..
so sad to think it is rusting away now un
usd
Most of the plant was demolished, but this crane and several other structures still stand and get maintenance (not enough too run but enough too stand
The besemer process. Impossible to compete with modern steel production.
Yes, you're right. The last Bessemer converters in the U.S. were retired about 1968. Today U.S. steel production is either from electric arc furnaces or basic oxygen furnaces.
I didn't even realize that these great mills made it into the 1990s. Thought they were all gone in the 80s.
Really??
I like seeing the history of it because I live in Bethlehem
I work for the company that helped construct part of this plant in the 1880s. It was a monument to American industry. Proud be a part of history years later.
Thanks for this! My dad and grandfather worked there, but never got to ask what they did. Was cool to see the Steel Plant.
Awesome footage. Thanks for posting it.
Now that crane is a welcome sign for a freakin casino.
The Minsi Trail Bridge (over the Lehigh River) pops up in the video over and over again. It's the concrete bridge with all the car traffic. All this is about a dozen blocks from Lehigh University. These days, on the east side of the "ore bridge" are a bunch of warehouses for a lot of different companies, and an "intermodal" (truck trailers on top of flat top railcars) for Norfolk Southern.
The backbone of America
People keep talking about breathing new life to the area and revitalizing it, I’ll tell you how to do that is a few simple words,”bring Bethlehem Steel back.”
Dude. I get it. I would've loved to see the plant rebuilt.
But be realistic, the plant wasn't profitable at the end of its life. We had to rebuild the entire area due to their failure.
To rebuild this plant would mean millions, maybe billions in investment, and further mean the destruction of the existing business in the area.
It would also mean the destruction of what's left of the bethlehem plant as it was. After 30 years of sitting idle, you're not going to get that equipment running in any meaningful way.
You'd have better luck building a new steel mill somewhere else.
@beholden_to_ducks You'd be surprised about how old equipment can be successfully restored.
I’m not talking about restoring the old plant or destroying it, I’m saying that they should buy land in some of the bad parts of the town, and reuse what they have. It wasn’t profitable due to the fact that it was cheaper to import and nobody realized what would happen in the future. Now steel trade is very dangerous. It is also fit to add that the steel we import isn’t as good as American made steel. If the plant was rebuilt, we would have a source for high quality steel that could be transported easily and quickly and a lot safer. Also the steel would be of higher quality.
But here is one thing we can agree on, screw the casino they built in its place and the inappropriate use of old machinery for the sign. Preservation>ReViTaLiTaTiOn any day. Now that would change if it was actual revitalization.
@@tackywhale5664You would really be amazed to see how rail enthusiasts restore some locomotives. I have seen rusted out hulls of a locomotive be rebuilt in to a brand new “as built” appearance and working condition!
Real men doing manly work.
Thank you for sharing. This is an amazing thing to witness.
Excellent Video, I look for these here on CZcams! 😇👍✌️
Few young men know what it's like to work on a crew making real product. I worked in big construction projects like bridges, tunnels and high buildings. Most you g men today are afraid to do real work, they want to sit in front of computers all day getting fat or they live with their parents and spend their time on their PC's telling the world how things oughta be, as if they have a clue. We had a very hard time keeping these characters working for any length of time, They just can't cut it
This is a gem 💎
The backbone of America.
RIP American manufacturing industry and infrastructure smh.
Don't overlook all the so called domestic mini mills with their cheaper to operate electric arc furnaces that helped destroy these integrated steel mills.
I was a steel worker in Hamilton Ontario in the early 90s.. global capital, couldn’t get rid of us fast enough, to satisfy the investor class. Communities lost for ever
We all can’t peddle mutual funds , or be tech inventors, somebody has to do actual work, with actual things..
GREAT video. Thanks!
So awesome!
And to this day. Bruce still doesn't know he was being filmed when dropping the welding machine lol
They took those plants for granted
But we’re waiting here in Allentown, for the Pennsylvania we never found…
Great but tragic song.
Thanks for this video. I love seeing inside operations like this
I am assuming you are kin to Larry James Neff. Thank you for sharing this piece of history with the world. It means alot to me personally. Thank you!!!
“4 billion cubic yards of coco puffs”
I'll be within three blocks of this tonight. They kept some of the steel plant up, furnace stacks, including this ore "bridge", but the rest was leveled and has been rebuild for entertainment venues. The "steel stacks" you see in the back-center at 13:18 are the backdrop to the entertainment area. The ore "bridge" is about two blocks away and has a casino at its base. The entertainment zone is known as "The Steel Stacks".
I drive by this place everyday,now its a casino called Wind Creek and hotels and stores.
Fascinating. 8:30: safety first!
Also just the pose standing on the beam looking over the mill and town is priceless
That guy is fearless.
Wait, first comment in 2 years? This is amazing stuff! Thanks so much for the art-informed views of the "cocoa puffs" and panning cityscapes. Those crazy vertigo-inducing steelwalk acrobatics! What a fascinating view of the Bethlehem plant, and all the environs. Looking at the sat views today, very little is left. The ore bridges and coke pits ... how did they just remove all that? The bridge itself - amazing huge gantry but it really doesn't need to carry that much weight - really just itself. Are we allowed to poison pigeons today? Thank you so much for this snapshot of the steel plant.
the 90s must have been so cool tons or company's using 1950 infostructure, southern pacific and santa fe and may more railroad companys still existed they still used SD9s and main lines and real men were working
I'm assuming your kin to Larry James Neff. After reading his book Rigger, I emailed him about a ghost I used to see by that tall building by the bridge where they cast the cannon barrels. He contacted me back and hooked me up with friends and family of Bethlehem Steel. I hope y'all's family has a great Christmas. Though I live in North Carolina now, I have a stained glass Bethlehem star hanging in my front window. Peace!
The structure that you're working on has rivets...Anyone know when this structure was built....Now this is what made America strong,not shuffling debt and credit like today...
Thanks
A few years ago I took the tour of the blast furnaces at Bethlehem with a tour guide who was a rigger. Was that you? Enjoyed the tour by a person who worked there.
The good ol' days :(
That's where the Long Beach was built. The ship I drove I'm the Navy
Thanks keep up the good work
No it was built in Quincy, Massachusetts.
This sort of gargantuan operation seems to be on the wane in America. Things are downscaled and dispersed over the countryside, now.
Also, Blast Furnace tech has been replaced by lower energy processes.... Open hearth furnace steel vs. basic oxygen process steel.
And now all that stands are the ruins of a once great industrialized American empire of prosperity and hope. Forgotten rusted bones of hope.
Good old USA!
Yes we did some repairs on those cranes, there were two of them. Now a casino. EG.
Awesome video hail two the steel
Wow real men with real jobs.
Great video. What a God damn dirty place to have to work. I have met people who have worked there.
You can compare this mill in Bethlehem PA to steel mills in Nagasaki Japan in this manner. Both were wiped off the face of the earth, one through war, the other by sheer stupidity of those making the decisions. What have we done to our country. My uncle retired from Burns Harbor.
Great footage from a bygone era , where rugged men where not covered in high vizy workwear like radioactive traffic cones.
I could never walk across like that being 200ft above
Man standin ontop lookin towards furnaces should be made into a portrait…
it's like the industrial counterpart to "wanderer above a sea of fog"; if you see the painting you'll see the similarity
Now instead of loading ore, people are unloading their wallets.
This was america when Blue jeans meant hard work!, Cracks what you were doing when you were cracking jokes!!! and coke was a coke
Looks like 1000 ways to die before 9 am
RIP american manufacturing........china approves tho
Really cool video thanks for posting it !