Mad Jack Corzine's Examples of Ironworking Series

I am a journeyman in the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Local Union 380 situated in Urbana, IL. By creating this series of pages it is my hope to better inform the general public on this profession, the nature of it and the necessity for ironworking. I hope to accomplish this through the medium of pictures and descriptions of what Ironworkers do on a daily basis. I could take up a lot of space on the history of the Ironworkers Union but that would take away from the focus of this document which is merely to give examples of different phases of work in the Ironworker's trade.

In these pages you will find different examples of what Union Ironworkers do for a living. Some of these jobs are glamorous and some are not so glamorous but they are all necessary to accomplish the goal of the contractor. The utilization of Union Ironworkers helps to ensure that qualified trained personnel are used to construct a safe and quality built structure. It is important that we preserve our Unions and support Union Labor as they have repeatedly been the front line in the ongoing struggle between labor and management. Today's business environment is a prime example of how management is infinitely more concerned with thier "profit margin" and less concerned with thier stable, loyal, hard working employee's welfare. I realize that this is a blanket statement on my part and not necessarily true in all instances. However, this attitude does seem to be more and more prevalent in our society today.

Please feel free to follow the links below and view all of the images that illustrate each job listed below. Be advised that the following pages are extremely Graphic Intensive and as such will load quite slowly.

Clinton, IL - This crane was installed by Blue Ridge Construction out of Bartonville, IL. It was erected while Clinton Nuclear Station was under full power and is the first gantry crane to be constructed in an actively running Nuclear Station. This project took 5 weeks to complete and was completed without incident. Pictures courtesy of Paul Haynes.
Clinton Nuclear Power Station, Clinton Illinois - This series of pictures is of the installation of a second 210 ton P&H Overhead Crane in the 800' level of the Turbine Building at Clinton, Illinois. This was erected by a crew of Ironworkers hired by P&H/Morris Material Handling. It was also erected while CPS was under full power load and was the first Nuclear facility that I know of that allowed water testing inside the RCA.

The following links will take you to a photo-album format of viewing the pictures. At the present time it is without dialoge which is less informative than the above links. I will be adding descriptions to these pages in the near future.

Clinton, IL - This series of pictures show the removal and the installation of 4 Power Transformers by Belding/Walbridge. The installation was an upgrade to the power output of Clinton Nuclear Power Station.
Monticello, IL - Construction of a Middle School at Monticello, IL by Ranken Steel.
Urbana, IL - Performed by Felmley-Dickerson Company this depicts the setting of the "topping out" beam.
Urbana, IL - Usage of a Erickson Air-Crane to lift air conditioning units onto the new addition and the old portion of the complex. This airlift was done on a Saturday and Sunday while the plant was shut down for the erection of the air conditioning units.
NEW UPDATE!!! - at Thomas A. Seibel Computer Science Center on the University of Illinois Campus by Trainor Glass Company, Alsip, IL. A composite crew of glazers and ironworkers who handle the erection and installation of the exterior and interior glass walls and floors.