Saw a museum display of a 1902 cupola furnace and the brickwork was still perfect

I was at the industrial history museum in Pittsburgh last month and they have a whole section on early steel. The cupola furnace from the old Jones and Laughlin works is just sitting there, and you can get right up to it. The firebrick lining looked like it was laid yesterday, not a single crack or sag after all that heat and time. Makes you think about the guys who built it with just trowels and levels. What's the oldest piece of kit you've seen still holding up on a job?

2 comments

2 Comments

sandrah6918d ago

Yeah, that old firebrick is something else. My grandad worked maintenance at a paper mill, and he always said the secret was in the mortar mix and letting each course cure slow. They didn't have the fancy gear, just took their time. I've seen some original cast iron pipe from the 40s that's outlasted all the PVC replacements because they overbuilt everything back then. Makes you wonder what from our time will still be sitting there in a hundred years.

avery_nelson18d ago

Ever see that with old chimney flues? The lime mortar they used seems to last forever compared to modern stuff.