The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) has recognized Barton Malow Company with the 2022 BAC Craft Award for Best Refractory Project. The commendation was earned based on the install of two new walking beam furnaces built at a facility in Burns Harbor, Indiana.
The walking beam furnaces, Nos. 4 and 5 at the facility, are the first new reheat furnaces built in the U.S. in nearly a decade. Work on these furnaces, a collaboration with BAC Local 4 of Indiana and Kentucky, was noted by the BAC as “an outstanding industry example of design, execution, and expertise.”
Barton Malow Company is well-known in the refractory business for providing high-quality maintenance for the largest steel companies in the country. The team on site self-performed the refractory installation of these state-of-the-art walking beam furnaces, which weigh a combined 2,670 tons. At the peak of work, 165 craft members were on site, including bricklayers, carpenters, laborers, and operators, racking up more than 190,000 hours worked.
Our trades team not only safely delivered on detailed and labor-intensive work of exceptional quality, but did so amid challenges with castable material and the COVID-19 pandemic. Barton Malow takes great pride in our trades team members, and we join the BAC in celebrating them for this well-deserved award.
Since 1986, the BAC Craft Awards Program has recognized local unions, BAC craftworkers, and their contractors for excellence in the trowel trades industry and outstanding union and community service. The 2022 BAC Craft Awards will be presented March 15–17, 2022 in Miami Beach, Florida.
