page_title: History of the iron and steel industry in the United States
section_title: Pittsburgh
hierarchical_section_title: History of the iron and steel industry in the United States / Pittsburgh
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the former en:Bethlehem Steel from the Fahy Bridge in en:Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This photo was taken shortly before demolition began to make way for the en:Sands BethWorks casino project. Jschnalzer 23:29, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
context_page_description: The US iron and steel industry has paralleled the industry in other countries in technological developments. In the 1800s, the US switched from charcoal to coke in ore smelting, adopted the Bessemer process, and saw the rise of very large integrated steel mills. In the 20th century, the US industry successively adopted the open hearth furnace, then the basic oxygen steelmaking process. Since the American industry peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, the US industry has shifted to small mini-mills and specialty mills, using iron and steel scrap as feedstock, rather than iron ore.
context_section_description: The replacement of charcoal with coal in the steel-making process revolutionized the industry, and tied steelmaking to coal-mining areas. In the 1800s, making a ton of steel required a greater weight of coal than iron ore.  Therefore, it was more economical to locate closer to the coal mines. Pittsburgh, surrounded by large coal deposits and at the junction of three navigable rivers, was an ideal location for steelmaking.
caption: Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was one of the world's largest manufacturers of steel.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Bethlehem Steel", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSLR-A100", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.8.4", "Image DateTime": "2014:03:09 21:23:48", "Image Artist": "Joshua J Schnalzer", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "2926", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[0, 0, 2, 2]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[40, 36, 1372/25]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[75, 22, 2161/50]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "0", "Image GPSInfo": "5860", "Image XPTitle": "[66, 0, 101, 0, 116, 0, 104, 0, 108, 0, 101, 0, 104, 0, 101, 0, 109, 0, 32, 0, 83, 0, 116, 0, 101, 0, 101, 0, 108, 0, 0, 0]", "Image XPComment": "[80, 0, 104, 0, 111, 0, 116, 0, 111, 0, 115, 0, 32, 0, 116, 0, 97, 0, 107, 0, ... ]", "Image XPAuthor": "Joshua J Schnalzer", "Image XPSubject": "[66, 0, 101, 0, 116, 0, 104, 0, 108, 0, 101, 0, 104, 0, 101, 0, 109, 0, 32, 0, 83, 0, 116, 0, 101, 0, 101, 0, 108, 0, 0, 0]", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 1, 0, 22, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "6100", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6200", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:04:22 16:37:49", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:04:22 16:37:49", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "8", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "481/50", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "497/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "120", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[36871, 4101, 18689, 35073]", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1500", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1004", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5830", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "180", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}