The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-08
BAR MILL BEGINS
FIRST OPERATIONS
.FA|RF |ELD MONDAY
Monthly Production Of 5000
To 1000 Tons Present
Output Of Plant

The new 0000-ton merchant bar
mill of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and
Railroad company at Fairfield is in
commission making round, square and
deformed steel bars for the southern
and export trade.
This latest presentation to the
southern steel industry by the Ten
nessee company follows close on the
Eeels of the modern steel foundry at
Fairfield just completed and placed
in operation. Along with these two
plants went more than 100 new homes
for employees, baths and other CON
veniences.
The new mill will turn out from
5000 to 1000 tons of bars monthly
under present conditions.
The mill began actual commercial
operations Monday following a tun
ing up process of several uays. Inc
trial product went through success
fully Sunday and Tuesday the mill
may be said to have taken its per
manent place in southern industry.
Its product will come to the southern
consumer at much under the price
of northern made bars.
Full turn OF production IS assured
under present state of the bar mar
ket, which is one of the most active
in the south. The new Fairfield
product will obviate the need of that
much tonnage from northern mills at
a higher delivered price.
One Year Building.
The new mill began operations ex-
actly one year after George Gordon
Crawford, president of the Tennessee
company, formally announced ina,
would be built.
o o O
Conveniently Located.
The mill is so located that it re-
ceives billets from the Fairfield
blooming mill, to which tables were
added so that long billets can be de-
livered to the merchant mill without
the necessity of switching cars.
The mill consists of a roughing
train of six stands of 16-inch rolls,
an intermediate mill of five stands
OF 12-inch rolls and finishing train
of two stands of finishing rolls, pro-
vided with 11-inch pinions. making
it possible to use either 1O-inch or
12-inch rolls.
a mechanical hotbed 255 feet in
length receives the hot bars from the
roll trains, and, after cooling, the
bars are sheared and stocked in
stores and shipping room especially
adapted for storing concrete rein
forcing bars, and with storage ca
pacity for a limited tonnage of Nor
chant bars. The mill and stocking
building is 80 feet wide and $40 feet
long and was erected by the Tonnes
see company.
The capacity of the mill is esti-
mated at 10000 tons of plain or de-
formed bars, rounds or squares per
month. The mill was built to care
for the Increased demands for bars
in the southern territory and for
export
More Steel Needed.
This completes the Tennessee COM
Eanys announced schedule Of new
major construction. Next large item
is expected to be announcement of
additional open hearth furnaces for
the preparation of steel for use In
the company's finishing mills. The
company is now t the limit of its
raw steel capacity production and
the new merchant mill will make
additional call on the raw steel sup
ply.
The new open hearth furnaces loom
up as the company's next logical
move and none will be surprised at
any time to hear announcement of
the order for their being built, al
though there Is no manner of deter
mining when the order will be forth
coming.