The making of steel, a feast for the senses

If you get a chance to visit a steel plant some time in your life, don’t pass it up! My first visit to the steel plant Belval in Esch, Luxembourg, was one of the most amazing environments I have seen in a long long time.

Do you want to discover how a steel beam is actually made? The process starts with the scrap metal being melted down in temperatures I thought were unimaginable. Then the liquid metal is poured into huge moulds, and cooled slowly. To reach its final shape, the beam is stretched: one example I saw, was a beam 13m in length reaching an incredible 106m (max)!

You really need to see this experience for yourself: The noise, the atmosphere and the heat! Having steel beams 3 meters below your feet being stretched back and forth, being cooled along the way and the heat that is given off, and starting from over 1,250 degrees Celsius. The soles of my feet were still warm after I had left the site. Now, that is impressive!

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