History
The "Haut Fourneau 4" (Blast furnace 4 in french) is a blast furnace of Marcinelle, Charleroi. It produced 6000 tonnes of cast iron per day for the rolling mill sites at La Louvière and Clabecq. A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron. In 2008 the nearby cokes factory closed its doors. So the factory has to import coke which as of poor quality and very expensive. Then the car industry almost collapsed, it was one of the most important buyers of the Charleroi iron to make steel. The site was put on stand-by in late 2008, waiting for better times and the restart of the coke plant. In 2011 it became clear the furnace would never be ignited again. Today the owner and city are debating to keep the blast furnace as industrial monument or to demolish the site.
Pictures
The train workshop
This is where the trains used on the site were maintained, the locos are in a surprisingly good condition.
The blast furnace
I had only seen pictures from several years ago where the blast furnace was in perfect condition, so I was surprised to find it in a rather pitiful state. There are only two tuyeres left. We didn't have time to go and see the blowers as we knew that security had spotted us on the cameras.
The "Haut Fourneau 4" (Blast furnace 4 in french) is a blast furnace of Marcinelle, Charleroi. It produced 6000 tonnes of cast iron per day for the rolling mill sites at La Louvière and Clabecq. A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron. In 2008 the nearby cokes factory closed its doors. So the factory has to import coke which as of poor quality and very expensive. Then the car industry almost collapsed, it was one of the most important buyers of the Charleroi iron to make steel. The site was put on stand-by in late 2008, waiting for better times and the restart of the coke plant. In 2011 it became clear the furnace would never be ignited again. Today the owner and city are debating to keep the blast furnace as industrial monument or to demolish the site.
Pictures
The train workshop
This is where the trains used on the site were maintained, the locos are in a surprisingly good condition.
The blast furnace
I had only seen pictures from several years ago where the blast furnace was in perfect condition, so I was surprised to find it in a rather pitiful state. There are only two tuyeres left. We didn't have time to go and see the blowers as we knew that security had spotted us on the cameras.
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