Alcoa Approves Repair, Refurbishment of Forging Press

Alcoa has approved funding to conduct a complete repair and refurbishment of its 50,000-ton forging press at its Cleveland Works. The investment will total more than $110 million through 2011.

The press project will be completed by the end of 2011. It will involve the complete disassembly and renovation of the 50,000-ton press, a 92-foot structure – with four stories above and below the floor -- that began production in 1955. In August of 2008, cracks were discovered in the press’ base castings. Alcoa idled the press to assess the situation and, after consulting with world experts, elected to pursue a complete refurbishment.

Cleveland Works is the home of two large forging presses – the 50,000-ton press under renovation and a 35,000-ton press currently producing large forgings for aerospace applications.

Earlier, Alcoa’s board approved interim funding to allow engineering and early lead time commitments to proceed. The board’s recent action commits the balance of the funding for the project. Alcoa’s investment will include more than $68 million in the press rebuild, alongside $24 million previously approved for other improvements associated with Joint Strike Fighter production.