CLYDEBRIDGE STEELWORKS HISTORY

BLOCHAIRN STEEL WORKS 1850s - 1962

Blochairn Iron Works was established in Glasgow, in the 1850s, for the manufacture of wrought iron. The works were located on the site of the former Blochairn House (built 1765) and on route of the Monklands canal. The site was to the north of the present M8 motorway, beside the fruitmarket and just to the west of the the two large gas holders.

The Blochairn Iron Company ran into financial difficulties during the 1857 crisis, and struggled on until 1867 when the works were taken over by Hannay and Sons. The aim was to break into the expanding malleable iron market created by the demands of the Clyde shipyards, who were sourcing orders from English firms. The Hannays erected puddling furnaces and finishing equipment, and initial development was so rapid and continuous that the works became the largest of their kind in Scotland. Unfortunately, expenditure for new equipment was so lavish that the owners, Hannay and Sons Ltd., became financially embarrassed, and the works closed down about 1875. In 1880 they were acquired by The Steel Company of Scotland, Ltd. The original aim was to close the works and move the equipment to Hallside works. However, after James Riley examined the works he persuaded the directors of The Steel Company of Scotland to retain and convert the works for the production of Siemens open-hearth steel (hence the Siemens name in the present streets in the area). James Riley was largely responsible for the changes, and many important state-of-the-art developments in the making and rolling of steel were carried out during his association with the works.

Originally the ingots were hammer cogged and the slabs were rolled into plates on the two existing mills, but in 1884 a slab rolling mill was added. This was the first universal mill to be erected in the UK, and probably anywhere, specifically for the rolling of slabs.

A universal plate mill was installed in 1885 and a 3-high Lauth plate mill was added in 1888, but these only worked for a short time. The 3-high mill suffered from dissapointing performance and frequent gearing breakages. Although, E J Duff, James Riley's assistant, remarked (in a discussion on plate rolling in the Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1908) that plates rolled in the mill measured up to 5ft 6in wide, and that they were successful in getting both a large output and a good finish. However, there were defects in the mill, due chiefly to their having followed too closely the American designs in regard to the tables &c., and these gave trouble, and frequent breakdowns and stoppages of the mill occurred. He thought, however, that if Mr Riley's directors had had the nerve to spend the money in eliminating these defects, and had gone on with the principle of three-high rolling, they would have made a success of it. Instead, a heavy and a light plate mill were added. Each was a two stand, 2-high reversing plate mill.

Due to rapid developments in the industry in the 1880s the original slabbing mill was replaced by a heavier slabbing mill in 1890. However, the rapid expansions had left the works vulnerable to trade fluctuations, and Hallside and Blochairn were reduced to working at only 50% of capacity with high cost new plant.

From 1895 only the two reversing plate mills were used.

In 1909 The Steel Company of Scotland purchaced mineral fields and developed collieries at Garthamlock and Queenslie to supply Blochairn via the Monklands Canal, and this began to contribute to the firms profitability.

The lighter one of the two plate mills was replaced in 1923 by a stronger two stand, 2-high plate mill. The two stands of this mill were coupled in parallel and the plate was skidded across from the roughing stand to the finishing stand. The roughing rolls were hot-working steel rolls 34 in diameter. The finishing rolls were water cooled iron rolls of the same diameter, with 7/8 inch chill.

In 1934 discussions had been taking place to rationalise the steel industry in Scotland and Sir James Lithgow bought a controlling interest in the Steel Company of Scotland. Following this, Dr Andrew McCance of Colvilles was asked to assess Hallside and Blochairn with a view to improving performance.

Although plates were always the main product, bars, sheets and railway tyres were made for many years. Under emergency wartime conditions, in 1942-3, vast sums of Government money were poured into Blochairn (and Hallside) with no great expectations of anything more than short run boosts to increase plate capacity. Indeed, its future redundancy was already being discussed. The 1890 slabbing mill was replaced by a high lift cogging mill, driven by an existing triple-cylinder simple non-condensing reversing steam engine, and the 1923 plate mill was renovated. The heavy plate mill (of the two 1895 mills) was abandoned about this time and the manufacture of all other products was discontinued.

Colvilles carried out a post war review of the steel industry in Scotland, and following the publication of its report, in 1947, Blochairn was scheduled for closure. However, this was a time when a new coastal steel works was being considered and the plans changed. Post war demand required the plate output and the works survived for a while longer, and indeed the plate mill steam-engine was replaced by an electric motor drive in January 1954.

Blochairn steel works finally closed about 1962 when the new Clydebridge plate mill started production.

(Ref: 1. The Production of Steel Plates in Scotland, J A Kilby 1950; 2. Colvilles, P L Payne. 1979)

The Engineering Review Supplement - December 20th 1894.
The Blochairn Works of the Steel Company Of Scotland, Ltd.

The Steel Company of Scotland possesses two works, Hallside Works, Newton, about six miles south east of Glasgow, and Blochairn Works, which are just on the municipal, boundary of that city. The Hallside Works, which were commenced in 1872, have been frequently described, as they were the pioneer work in Scotland of the open-hearth steel manufacture. Although there is a large foundry for the manufacture, of steel castings, yet these works are principally devoted to the production of angles, bars, &c., of all sections and. sizes
The Blochairn Works, which had been in existence or some years as malleable iron works, were acquired by the Steel Company of Scotland in 1880, and were afterwards to a large extent remodelled. They possess a large frontage to the Monkland Canal, whence are drawn the supplies of water for engineering purposes. The canal is also at times available for conveyance of material, raw and finished, to and from the works, which are moreover well served by branches from the Caledonian and City Union Railways, the latter also connecting with, the Glasgow and South-Western and North British Railways, so that through these branches there is connection with the principal railways of the country. Through them also, ready connection is obtained with the docks and quays on both sides of the river Clyde.

Melting Furnaces
When first arranged for the production of steel, twelve furnaces of 12 tons capacity were erected; subsequently, however, these were made to work 16 ton charges. To this plant were added three Batho furnaces of 15 tons capacity, and subsequently four other Batho furnaces of about 25 tons capacity were erected at the east end of the works. From time to time the old furnaces have been pulled down and. replaced by new and larger ones, the intention being to substitute the original furnaces by others capable of working 25 ton. charges, seven having been already rebuilt.

Gas Producers
The four new Batho furnaces have their own special gas producers of the Wilson type, with water-sealed bottoms to admit of cleaning during the continuance of working; the gas from these producers is conveyed direct to the main flue in front of the furnaces without the intervention of cooling tubes. For the supply of the other melting furnaces, and of the various gas-reheating furnaces in the works, there are two sets of steam-blown Siemens producers, with a total of 72 fires, the gas from these producers being conveyed through large tubes to the place of consumption. Coals for the gas producers are delivered by railway close to the points where they are required - in fact, for the Wilson producers in connection with the Batho melting furnaces, the coal is discharged direct from the trucks into the charging hoppers of the producers. Mechanical chargers were provided to this set of gas producers, but their use has lately been discontinued.

Casting Arrangements
For casting the steel into ingots, a central casting pit is provided of semicircular form, the moulds being placed round the periphery of the semicircle. The modus operandi of casting, is as follows : The carriage with the ladle is brought under the tap hole of the furnace and receives the charge of steel; it is then moved by a locomotive along the line of railway in front of the furnaces until it is brought under a lift placed in the centre of the row, by which the ladle is removed from the travelling carriage and deposited on the end of what is called the centre-table. This table is made to rotate on its centre, and by this means the ladle is brought in turn over each of the moulds placed in the casting pit as previously described ; the ladle is then tilted over and furnished with new nozzle pot and stopper, the table is turned round again under the lift, the ladle is removed from the table, put into the carriage, and is again ready for the succeeding cast. This method of working was adopted in order to insure a steady and constant succession of casts for the supply of the mills. These arrangements for casting have been supplemented by an additional straight pit in front of the three Batho furnaces, the moulds being set and ingots removed to soaking pits by a 10 ton travelling crane. Special arrangements have also been made in close proximity to the four Batho furnaces for casting the ingots for the tyre making department.
After remaining sufficiently long in the moulds in the casting-pit, the ingots are stripped and transferred to soaking pits. This is done by two hydraulic jib-cranes which are placed so that each one commands one half the casting-pit and one of the sets of soaking-pits. The soaking-pits are commanded by a third hydraulic crane, similar to the two last mentioned, by which the ingot, after having had its heat equalised in the soaking pit, is withdrawn from the pit and placed upon the cradle, by which it is transferred to the rollers leading to the cogging mill. These ingot cranes, which were made by Messrs. Tannett, Walker, & Co., of Leeds, are capable of lifting about 6 tons at 20 feet radius, and have rams for racking and turning movements. The pressure of the general hydraulic system of the works is 900 lb. to the square inch, and these cranes are worked on this pressure.

Soaking Pits
There are two sets of soaking pits having six pits each to the ordinary Giers design, and one furnace having four pits heated with gas, the latter being used when, through delays or accidents, ingots become too cold to pass forward to the mill.

Cogging Mill
This mill occupies the site of the first cogging mill for plate slabs that was ever constructed, which was examined with so much interest by the members of the Iron and Steel Institute on the occasion of their visit to Glasgow in 1885. That pioneer mill was put down to deal with ingots up to about three tons weight, being nearly double the weight of those in use at the time when it was designed. So rapid, however, has been the growth in the size and weight of plates for marine boilers that it is now by no means uncommon for ingots to be made of seven or eight tons weight. To meet these altered conditions this original mill was displaced by the existing one, which is a most massive structure, constructed almost entirely of steel, and, of what may be termed the universal rolling mill type - that is to say, it has both horizontal and vertical rolls, so that slabs rolled in it do not require to be turned up on edge. Of the vertical rolls, one is fixed and the other moveable laterally, so that slabs ranging from 60 in. down to 30 in. wide can be rolled. The moveable roll, with its attendant guides, is set up to the requisite width by screws placed transversely to the mill, having bevel gear, which take into corresponding gear on a longitudinal shaft, to which motion is communicated by a small reversing engine, conveniently placed. This engine, also drives the screwing gear in connection with the horizontal rolls, the vertical, or lateral screwing being done alternately as required through the intervention of clutches under the control of the engine boy. The feed rollers are all of the "dead" type, that is, they are not driven. The ingot having been placed into the cradle, the latter is turned down by means of a hydraulic rack taking into a segment fixed upon the shaft of the cradle ; the ingot is thus placed on the rollers of a small carriage, which is moved forward into close contact with the end of the feed rollers. By an ingenious arrangement, the arm of a "pusher" is now brought down behind the ingot, and it is moved forward to the rolls over the rollers previously mentioned. The "pusher" is a cylinder made to move to and fro on a ram fixed parallel to the centre line of the mill, but to one side of it, one end being fixed in the housing and the other in a bracket at the end of the framework of the roller gear. This ram is hollow and through the central orifice hydraulic pressure is produced in the cylinder alternately on one side and the other of a piston which forms part of the ram. The cylinder carries the arm previously referred to. When the cylinder is at the end of its stroke so that the arm is furthest from the mill, and in the position for first taking control of the ingot, the arm is so placed that the vertical ram of a small hydraulic apparatus can, take hold of a small projecting piece of the arm and tilt it so that the ingot - on the carriage first mentioned - is passed under it on to the mill-rollers, then the arm is lowered behind it, and motion is communicated to it as previously described. Similar "pushers" are placed front and back of the mill to actuate the ingot to and from the rolls. In rolling the slab, the horizontal and vertical rolls are not allowed to act simultaneously, but are brought into action according to the judgment of the roller. Motion is communicated to the vertical rolls by the intervention of bevelled gearing at their top ends taking into bevelled wheels on a horizontal shaft carried in the housings of the mill, and also continued forward to the housings of the mill-pinions, from which motion is obtained by spur gearing. This mill is driven by a strong and powerful pair of engines made by Lamberton & Co., the cylinders, being 48 in. diameter by 54 in. stroke. Steam is supplied by three Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The whole operations of the mill are performed by one man, with the assistance of a screwer-boy and another man to operate the valves by which motion is alternately given to the "pushers." This mill, which, like its predecessor, was the invention of and patented by Mr. Riley, was designed and worked out at the Company's works, under the management of Mr. Cunningham, by M.r. E. J. Duff, the late manager, who deserves great credit for what it has accomplished. The slab, having been reduced to the required dimensions, is pushed forward on to another roller table by which it is conveyed to a massive pair of hydraulic shears supplied by Messrs. Tannett, Walker & Co., which are actuated by a hydraulic pressure of one ton to the square inch, acting upon rams of such area that a total force of 1,500 tons can be brought to bear, and slabs can be sheared having a cross section of 60 in. by 8 in. Closely contiguous to the table which received the sheared slab is a hydraulic crane which removes it from the table to a bogie standing upon a weighing machine where the slab is weighed, the weight being stamped upon it together with the cast number. The bogie is then moved forward to the plate mills, passing over a cable tramway laid in the mill floor, the chain being moved by steam winches placed at different points as required.

Plate Mills
Of these there are four, two of which are placed one on each side of a pair of fine powerful compound condensing engines, non-reversing and having a very heavy fly-wheel on the crank shaft, which has cranks at both ends, the high pressure engine connecting to one, and the low pressure to the other. The mill, on one side of the engine has two sets of rolls - soft and hard - 8 ft. long by 28 in. diameter, and reversed by means of ordinary clutch reversing gearing. On the other side is a mill of the "American" type [i.e. a 3-high mill] with one set of three rolls, the middle one, which is movable, being 19 in. diameter, the top and bottom rolls being 28 in. diameter. Front and back of the rolls are lifting tables, the rollers being driven, which feed the piece alternately on either side, between the bottom and middle, and the top and middle rolls. The slabs for these mills, as in fact all the plate mills, are heated in gas furnaces of the ordinary Siemens type. Closely adjoining the mill last described is a "Universal" mill having vertical rolls front and back of the horizontal ones. The mill is driven by a pair of reversing engines with cylinders 36 in. diameter, 4 ft. stroke. The horizontal rolls are 20 in. diameter; the vertical rolls have such movement as admits of plates being rolled from 5 in. to 30 in. wide. The plates are moved to and from the rolls by driven rollers, and when finished are passed forward on to a straightening plate where hydraulic rams are brought to bear upon one edge, the other being placed against a planed flange projecting upwards from the base plates on which the plate lies. At a little distance from this mill is another, the largest plate mill in the works, having one set of rolls 10 ft. 9 in. long by 33 in diameter, and another set of hard rolls 8 ft. long by 28 in. diameter. In front of both sets of rolls are tables pivoted at the end nearest to the mill, and having hydraulic rams placed under the opposite ends by which they are elevated to such an inclination as feeds the slab or plate, which is being rolled back on to four driven rollers that are placed between the end of the tables and the mill rolls. At the back and placed behind a similar set of four driven rollers is a table which can be moved across the back of the rolls from one set to the other and which when opposite either set of rolls places the back end of the table directly over a ram by which it can receive the necessary inclination as previously described in connection with the tables in front of the mill. Motion is communicated to the screwing gear of both these sets of rolls by a special small engine which also through the intervention of clutches drives the roller gear front and back of the rolls. The heavy slabs worked at this mill are heated in ordinary Siemens gas furnaces, and are charged and drawn on to special bogies by means of specially arranged gearing driven by a separate steam-engine. The bogie with the hot slab is drawn up to the feed table by a chain connected with a hydraulic capstan conveniently placed. The finished plate is withdrawn from the mill table by the ordinary method, that is, by a chain connecting to a steam winch at a considerable distance from the mill. All the mills thus described have large floor space between them and the shears, of which there are three sets - one very large one, by Buckton & Co., having blades 14 ft. long. A large annealing furnace is conveniently placed for annealing boiler plates, which always receive careful attention at these works. There are several cranes for loading the finished plates, after inspection and testing, on to trucks on the different railway sidings.

Tyre Department
In this department, there are three hammers for the preparation of the tyre "blank," being of 10 tons, 7 tons, and 4 tons weight, respectively, and having coal-fired furnaces with boilers attached for the necessary heating. The tyre mill was constructed by Messrs. Tannett, Walker & Co., and is furnished with suitable cranes, and furnaces with boilers attached, together with the necessary, appliances for testing.

Sheet Mills
These mills, known as Nos. 6 and 7, have each two sets of rolls, hard and soft, the former being 5 ft. long, by 22 in. diameter, the latter 5 ft. 6 in. by 22 in. diameter. Both are driven by low pressure condensing engines. They have coal fired furnaces with boilers attached as well as the necessary furnaces for annealing sheets.

Bar Mills
There are two of these, one 16 in. diameter, and the other a guide mill 10 in. diameter, placed on each side of a pair of engines of ordinary type, and furnished with all the necessary appliances.

Testing Department
This department has received careful attention, and possesses machines for preparing the test pieces as well as two machines for testing them, one to Buckton's latest design, the other designed by Mr. Williamson, the first manager of these works.

Workshops
These comprise an iron foundry and pattern shop in addition to the ordinary fitting and turning shops, roll turning and other machine shops, customary in large works.

In conclusion, we need only add that the Blochairn Works, although one of the pioneer establishments of its kind in Europe, is even at the present day an establishment that is well to the front in most aspects of open-hearth steel making practice.