U.S. Pipe

The United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Company was incorporated in 1899 as a consolidation of 12 companies and 14 plants located in 8 states. The Cast Iron portion was dropped from the name in 1929. The headquarters of the new company was located at the Burlington New Jersey plant. Facilities in the Birmingham area included the Bessemer Pipe Plant (former Howard-Harrison Iron Company), North Birmingham Pipe Plant (former Dimmick Pipe Company), and the south's first pit cast plant built in 1882 in Chattanooga (former David Giles Company). Since this time, Alabama has been the leading state for iron pipe production and Birmingham the leading city.

History

Operations at all U.S. Pipe plants used the pit cast method until 1921. At that time U.S. Pipe purchased the rights to a new casting process from a Brazilian named Dimitri Sensaud deLavaud. This centrifugal cast process (the deLavaud process) would revolutionize the pipe industry and place U.S. Pipe squarley in the lead as the major pipe manufacturer in the world. The first plant to use the new process was the North Birmingham Plant. With the first technology for mass production of iron pipe, U.S. Pipe negotiated profitable licensing arrangements with other pipe manufacturers such as American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPCO), Kubota of Japan, and Buderus of Germany.

Timeline

1899 - United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Company incorporated 1921 - Company purchases and adopts deLavaud casting process 1953 - Corporate offices moved to Birmingham at 3300 First Avenue North 1969 - U.S. Pipe acquired by Jim Walter Corporation 1988 - Parent corporation name changed to Walter Industries, Inc.