Re:The Entire History of Steel
by gregpilling on Friday July 13, 2018 @09:41PM
(#17528282)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System
The interstate highway system got passed in 1956. It is now comprised of almost 50,000 miles of highway, and cost almost $500 Billion in todays dollars.
There would have been a whole lot of rebar used in the construction of all the concrete - bridges, overpasses, the concrete sections in Los Angeles and other high volume areas
> American steel consumption has declined about 40% per capita.
I wonder how much of that is from import auto sales? Or an overall drop in civic projects?
Re:The Entire History of Steel
by philipkglass on Thursday July 12, 2018 @11:35PM
(#17520338)
It's measuring consumption, so I think that imported goods are included.
My top guesses as to causes would be a reduced pace of building/infrastructure construction, reduced steel content in cars, and cars lasting longer.
US apparent steel consumption was 97.8 million tons in 2012, the latest date available. That's a bit lower than the 106 million tons in 1968. American steel consumption has declined about 40% per capita. The US steel industry would have had to ramp up exports very aggressively to remain as large a portion of the US economy as it was in the 1960s.