Conversion Arc

They climbed the steel stairs to the upper operator's platform, looking down across the entire layout of the works.

From this vantage point, the industrial logic of the site was strikingly clear. Raw materials—iron ore, coking coal, and limestone—entered from the river quays on the western perimeter. They moved sequentially through the coking batteries, blast furnace hearths, converter shop, blooming mills, and rail rolling stands, exiting as finished heavy steel products at the eastern rail yards.

"Blast Furnace One is ahead of schedule," Hollen reported, leaning against the platform railing. "If the hot-blast stove masonry cures properly, we begin pre-heating procedures within three weeks."

"And Furnace Two?" Ernest asked.

"Three weeks behind. The coking batteries are entering their final drying fires now. The first blowing engine is installed; the second is currently being aligned."