Touring the Mon Valley Works

Photo courtesy of U. S. Steel. http://www.uss.com/corp/press/image.asp?img=6

A perk of interning at one of the world's largest steelmaking corporations...touring the Edgar Thompson and Irvin plants in the Pittsburgh area. The photo depicts a ladle pouring molten iron. No pictures, no words can express the feeling of walking into a steel mill. On a day barely pushing 70 degrees, cloudy skies, rainy, it was like walking into the gaping maw of hell. But molten iron is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It's not like lava--lava is slow, thick. Molten metal flows like water, and pours like liquid light in a halo of sparks.