Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil (part of Evraz Group) startsed to lay the furnace foundation in one of its shops.

‘At the moment, the work is in the excavation state; the furnace foundation is also being laid. This new apparatus for wheel billet heating will be used as part of the press-rolling line built at the Complex in December 2004. The new heating system will be fully automated, quick and less energy-consuming, which will surely enhance the quality of the billets,’ the company’s spokesperson reports.

The construction of the furnace is part of the general wagon wheel modernization plan whose stages also include the construction of an extra ultrasound testing system.

The equipment is being supplied by the German THYSSENKRUPP MANNEX, GmbH; the company’s executives arrived on March 30 to go over the particulars of installation process and check out the preparatory stage. The first delivery is scheduled for early April. The assembling process is going to take about five months, and the furnace will have been put into operation at the beginning of 2007.