Waiward Fabricates Intricate Cooler Ring for the Cleveland Cliffs Burns Harbor Facility
November 9, 2023
Waiward was awarded the contract in January 2023, which includes steel supply and fabrication, machining, and trial assembly. The unique 367 MT project was completed in August 2023, included a 100 ft diameter ring made of 40 rolling and pivoting sections supported by 6” diameter steel spokes attached to 18” by 12” formed box girder inner and out girders, covered with 3/8” thick louvre plates with 17,280 formed openings for airflow.
For this project, schedule, maintaining dimensional tolerance, and enabling ease of assembly was of critical importance to meet Burns Harbour planned shutdown in September. To achieve, Waiward developed an intuitive match marking methodology, planned, and utilized specialty laser measurement tools and developed a method to dry-fit and check within 1mm half the 100 ft diameter ring at a time while maintaining the locating points and 1mm tolerance between each half.
Burns Harbor, Cleveland-Cliffs’ second largest U.S. facility, is a fully integrated steelmaking facility. The location of the facility allows for prime access of the Port of Indiana, as well as excellent highway, waterway, and rail transport. The plant operates two blast furnaces and can produce 5 million net tons of raw steel annually. Principal products made at this location are hot-rolled, cold-rolled, hot-dip galvanized coils and plate products.
About Waiward Industrial
For over 50 years, Waiward is a premier provider of engineering and drafting, fabricated steel, construction, and sustaining capital and maintenance services. We operate across Western Canada and provide solutions to various sectors, including energy, petrochemical and refining, mining, energy transmission markets, and clean technology. As one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, our commitment to our customers and partners is our highest priority, as we work to provide quality products and exceptional service that exceed expectations. For more information visit, www.waiward.com or follow Waiward on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
