As part of the South Side Works project the Industrial Arts Co-op (IAC) intends to commemorate the industrial steel heritage of Pittsburgh with the creation of a large public sculpture. With the sculpture as an addition to the landscape on the former Jones and Laughlin and LTV mill sites, visitors will be able to perceive the former activities of the area and the scope of the production of steel at the south side mills.

This site-specific sculpture will be comprised of two main elements: a relic of the steel industry and figurative sculptures of steel-workers. IAC has begun to research the availability of a large hot metal ladle of the 'teeming' or 'pouring' type to serve as the most dominant and centrally located piece. The ladle will be presented in a way that will safely demonstrate the scale and magnitude of working steel industry. Dimensions of the piece are expected to be in the 12'x12' or 20'x 20'range. Hot metal ladles were used at J&L Steel in the process of pouring molten pig iron into open-hearth and electric furnaces to make steel. Once the slag was separat-ed from molten steel, the ladles were again used to pour steel Industrial Arts Co-op SOUTH SIDE WORKS project online into ingot molds. Ladles were and still are an essential tool in the transportation of molten metal, requiring extensive, overhead cranes and railroad cars to manipulate the material. Other types of ladles are: slag thimbles, pony ladles, and transfer ladles, all of which could be a part of the South Side Works Project.

The second principle element of the site-specific sculpture will be the complimentary forms of steelworker figures. The steelworker sculptures will be life-sized and arranged around the ladle in a manner that shows the interaction between laborer and industry. The inclusion of these figures pays homage to the many generations and lives that were the work force behind the golden age of the steel industry. The hot metal bridge was originally used for the transportation of molten iron in hot metal railroad cars from the Eliza blast furnaces on the south Oakland side of the river to the steel making electric furnaces of the South Side Works. The bridge also served as a utility structure for pipelines that transported gases, fuels and bi-products across the river, connecting the mills.

As the City of Pittsburgh has proposed, the hot metal bridge will be revitalized to serve the communities of the Southside and Oakland as a transportation link for both motorized and pedestrian traffic. Use of the bridge will not only provide access to current neighborhoods, but will allow visitors to have the opportunity to traverse a structure that played a large part in the former industry of the Steel Valley. IAC would like to have placement of the sculpture near the hot metal bridge to complement the plans for re-use of this structure.