Finishing stands

Probably only very few industrial facilities still operate today that were financed by the Marshall Plan (European Recovery Program) between 1948 and 1952.
One of them is the 80” hot strip mill in Port Talbot, Wales.
It was to become the core unit of the expansion plan “K” for the steelworks of the Steel Company Of Wales on the Welsh coast.
From 1947 on, the Abbey Works were built on 220 hectares south of the existing Margam Works.
The largest single investment in the history of the British steel industry.
The fully continuous hot strip mill had 4 roughing stands and 6 finishing stands. It had a total driving power of 33500 kW. The plant was designed and built by United Engineering Comp. from Pittsburgh and financed with $27 million from the Marshall fund.
It went into operation in 1951 and is still largely unchanged today, except for the roughing stands (new construction in 2014).