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Report - - Steelworks Alpha, USA May 2016 | European and International Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Steelworks Alpha, USA May 2016

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mookster

grumpy sod
Regular User
I did promise myself I wouldn't post too much in this particular area of the forum right away, but to be honest a lot of the places that were favourites of mine from the last few years just happened to be abroad - no surprise there.

This steelworks is one of my favourite locations I have ever explored. Ever. It's right up there in the top five, maybe even top three all time favourite explores and I would stay here a week to capture every minute detail of the place if I could. It's one of the most perfect examples of decades of decay I have ever seen, as well as being both massive and rammed full of things. It's also largely unknown in the community over there, my friends who have been consider it to be one of, if not the best industrial explore in the entire north east area of the country. If I'm honest I agree with them!

It's also quite a risky explore in a country where all trespassing is a criminal offence you can, and will be, arrested for if caught and the police don't like you.

It's an old works, very old by American standards of history. Production of steel began in the early 1900s, and ended in the 1980s when the company went bankrupt and the facility closed practically overnight leaving absolutely everything inside right down to workers uniforms. So far so standard steelworks fare, but that's not the interesting part of it's history. During the Second World War it was one of many steelworks allocated to work as part of the Manhattan Project, and it processed tens of thousands of tonnes of Uranium and thousands of tonnes of Thorium metals for a period of time. As such, the grounds are so heavily contaminated nobody wants to touch the buildings at all. Despite this, only half the buildings are empty. There is an active steelworks operating out of the buildings that weren't used for radioactive metals, and one of their warehouses joins onto part of one of the derelict buildings with a nasty barbed fence actually running inside the derelict building to fence off the active part from the empty bit!

Oh and because nobody wants to have anything to do with the site ownership passed to the US Government, which means there is even more of a reason to not be caught by the security patrols as consequences for being found on government property can be rather severe!

The first building was largely empty, but things got so much better as we went on. I make no apologies for the number of photos in this thread ha.

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At the far right hand side rear of the building in the photo below was where the internal fence ran through it separating us from the active parts, we didn't stay too long here as parts of it were wide open to the road driven down by security.

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Thanks for looking :)
 

host

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
As the Americans would say Frickin Awesome…this is such an amazing site and really well shot. I would love to spend some time in the US but the fear of getting shot or robbed is too great, that said i bet that rarely happens.
 

mookster

grumpy sod
Regular User
As the Americans would say Frickin Awesome…this is such an amazing site and really well shot. I would love to spend some time in the US but the fear of getting shot or robbed is too great, that said i bet that rarely happens.

It is a real threat I'll be honest. A lot of the stuff is in really pretty bad areas which is to be expected and you really do need to be more aware of your surroundings over there than here. I've been in areas of Philadelphia and Newark that are some of the most unsafe in the country, it's like being in the third world which is really eye opening. Luckily I've always been with local friends who know the areas.

Conversely I've spent time in Detroit as well as Gary in Indiana which used to be the murder capital of the country and I absolutely loved it. Detroit is a crazy wonderful dangerous city full of massive contradictions and I instantly fell in love with the place.

I've had friends of mine end up with guns pointed at their heads by police, arrested, fined, and if I'm honest that's my biggest fear. I've come very close to being arrested only once and it wasn't a good ordeal I'll put it that way!
 

host

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
It is a real threat I'll be honest. A lot of the stuff is in really pretty bad areas which is to be expected and you really do need to be more aware of your surroundings over there than here. I've been in areas of Philadelphia and Newark that are some of the most unsafe in the country, it's like being in the third world which is really eye opening. Luckily I've always been with local friends who know the areas.

Conversely I've spent time in Detroit as well as Gary in Indiana which used to be the murder capital of the country and I absolutely loved it. Detroit is a crazy wonderful dangerous city full of massive contradictions and I instantly fell in love with the place.

I've had friends of mine end up with guns pointed at their heads by police, arrested, fined, and if I'm honest that's my biggest fear. I've come very close to being arrested only once and it wasn't a good ordeal I'll put it that way!

You don't need to go all the way to America for a gun pulled on you we had it in Germany..Luckily we had a local with us who calmed the situation down..Well if i get the chance to go over to the US i will be sure to get some pointers off you or better still ask you as a tour guide…Hopefully you will be at the 28 meet for a good chat.
 

mookster

grumpy sod
Regular User
Cheers everyone, this place is something special that's for sure - thought I'd come back with a bang as well.

To give an idea of how much it's decayed, my friends went back a couple of months ago and found that the solid concrete stairs leading to the locker room in the 11th photo, which were already leaning at an alarming angle when I visited, have now collapsed completely. One of the gantry cranes in the area with only about half a roof left is pretty sketchy as well, sooner or later that whole thing will come crashing to the ground.

You don't need to go all the way to America for a gun pulled on you we had it in Germany..Luckily we had a local with us who calmed the situation down..Well if i get the chance to go over to the US i will be sure to get some pointers off you or better still ask you as a tour guide…Hopefully you will be at the 28 meet for a good chat.

That's true. They are certainly more trigger happy in the good ol' US of A though haha. Certain states have the infamous 'castle' laws where property owners can legally shoot trespassers on their property as well...

I'd love to be at the meet up, I think the only one I have been on was about seven years ago!
 
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