One of my longtime hobbies is industrial heritage. By that, I mean both active and derelict industrial sites (aka "industrial monuments"), especially ones that are accessible to the public one way or another. I live in a part of Germany that used to be one of THE main centers of heavy industry for my country. Even though the structural change caused by various economic crises and the increasing competition from overseas has resulted in a lot of industrial sites being shut down, with many of them demolished and replaced by new businesses, there are still many active plants around these parts. And then there are the places that are out of use but maintained as "museum" sites to various degrees. So I've started to do a photo tour meant to showcase both the active industry, but also the heritage sites that are open to visitors and help explain to future generations how people used to work back in the day. Before I start with my city and the larger surrounding region, though, I took a trip to the Saarland, a federal state in South Germany. My first stop was Neunkirchen, a city that used to be home to an ironworks site. Some installations have been preserved, including two blast furnaces, and integrated into a park, called the "Altes HüttenAreal Neunkirchen", or simply "AHA". Because space is precious down in the Saarland, the modern downtown shopping mall has been built right across the street. Read more Does anyone else have any industrial sites nearby? How do other countries deal with their industrial heritage? Do inactive sites get demolished, or are they preserved as monuments for future generations? I'm aware of some places in the US (Carrie Furnace, Sloss Furnace, Bethlehem Steel, Gas Works Park). Once again, I'd like to assure you that this has been cleared with the staff.
Living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, there is plenty of heavy industry sites, some capable of employing over 10,000 workers at any given time so there is no shortage of industrial sites. I think what happens to a particular site is individually related to the circumstances surrounding the site. For instance there is a large tank farm/refinery here that has sat unused for over 20 years due to extensive soil contamination, which has to be cleaned up before it comes online again. Due to the extensive cost rated to the clean up, it has laid dormant and overgrown all these years until recently. Now they are in the process of asbestos removal, whether its because they want to bring it back online or demolished I don't know. Either way proper asbestos removal is an absolute. I've seen other sites decommissioned and demolished or refurbished to today's industry standards and also left empty, depending on the financial, environmental and political situation surrounding the site. There's so much money here that a usable site usually doesn't lay dormant for long as it is tempting to investors looking to use sites with existing infrastructure. I don't think we have any real industrial heritage sites due to this.
My trip through the Saarland continues with a visit to Völklingen Ironworks, which has been declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1994! Read more
Right outside Boston is the Charlestown Naval shipyard. Its been open since the late 19th century. What sits currently on the site, replaced the older navy yards. It is no longer an active US Military base in terms of a naval repair yard. It also houses a US Navy Muesum and the WW2 USMC Barracks. However it is still an active duty Navy base, as the world's oldest commisioned warship, the U.S.S. Constitution is on site as an active duty muesum ship. USS CONSTITUTION - America's Ship of State There are also a few othership yards around Boston, such as the Fore River Shipyards in Braintree/Quincy Ma. Again it has been converted into a Muesum for the USS Salem. Last but not least is Battleship cove in Fall River Ma. A small repair facility that in 1964 was converted into what stands still today as the largest collection of WW2 Naval vessels. http://www.battleshipcove.com/ Most of the American ships at Battleship Cove were built at the Fore river shipyard on the Braintree side.
My trip through the Saarland concludes with a visit to the Dillinger Hütte, the Saarland's last remaining active ironworks site. Since it's an active site, I could only take photos from public roads, but despite that, I was able to get a good look at some of the activities inside. Read more
I am currently driving across the prairies right now to visit my home town. There is a place there called Old Pinawa Dam, it is a hydro dam that was shut down in the late 40's and is now a provincial heritage site. All that remains are the awesome ruins of it, massive structures of concrete, tunnels and broken rock. The super cool thing about this place is all the rapids and waterfalls that were left behind when they opened the reservoir and the water levels dropped. We used to go swimming here all summer as a kid and it is one of the many places I will be taking my wife and kid to go see. I'll take some good pics also and post them here, I think it will fit nicely with the topic of this thread.
I grew up in the Johnstown PA region, which was founded on coal mines and steel mills. One of the more interesting aspects of small coal towns is just the layout of the streets. It's generally a grid, with one larger street, and MANY one-way roads. Simplicity.
That sounds awesome and I would really appreciate photos. Have you had a chance to visit Carrie Furnace or the Bethlehem Steel site?
There are three industrial sites in my hometown and they are still running. One of them is a paper mill and the other makes nylon. I don't know what the third one makes. I had three uncles that worked at each of them. But I like old abandon or closed down mental insane hospitals.
I often see such sites when I visit Ant-Zen or Hands parties. Forms of Hands is often at abandoned Zechen. And once at the Love Parade there was a great Afterparty at the Zeche Carl
Völklingen Ironworks was already overwhelming, and its outdated blast furnaces are tiny compared to the ones at Bethlehem Steel, or the ones in use at modern German ironworks sites.
Following my return from the Saarland, I continued my tour in the Ruhr area. Before I turned my attention towards my own home town Duisburg, I made a trip to Dortmund, a city that is home to yet another former ironworks plant, Phoenix-West. Read more
Back in my home town of Duisburg, I will not turn my attention to one of our many ironworks sites for now, but rather the Rhine-Herne Canal lock Duisburg-Meiderich. Read more
After various delays, I finally turn my attention to the first ironworks plant in my own home town, probably the most frequently photographed ironworks site in Germany that is still active. The Bruckhausen part of what is now the ThyssenKrupp ironworks plant, formerly known as the “August-Thyssen-Hütte”, contains what is currently the most modern blast furnace in Europe. Read more
There's a Quarry about two miles west of me and a Steel mill about five miles north... do those count?
