AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe history

AMERICAN manufactured and shipped its first order of cast iron pipe in 1906.

Although the company name reflects its initial product--cast iron pipe--ACIPCO has progressed well beyond its initial product line and has boasted an international customer base since it began exporting its products in 1915.

In 1917, for instance, ACIPCO instituted a pension fund for its employees, a highly unusual practice at the time.

Centrifugal casting was invented in 1918 by Dimitri Sensaud deLavaud, a Brazilian after whom the process was named.

All of the company stock had been placed in a trust in 1922, and ever after the trust has paid dividends to all employees based on company profitability.

In Eagan's words, his objective was to ensure "service both to the purchasing public and to labor on the basis of the Golden Rule." When he died on March 30, 1924, AMERICAN became an employee-owned business.

The financial crash of 1929 had little effect on the company at first, but soon, business started to decline resulting in a loss of jobs.

In 1941, when the United States entered World War II, AMERICAN was asked to apply its centrifugal casting experience to another metal — steel.

In 1955, American shipped its first large order of ductile iron pipe.

In 1962, the company purchased Fox Steel in Jacksonville, Florida, and used the equipment to build a 36,000-square-foot steel pipe mill on its Birmingham campus.

1963: American Steel Pipe division founded.

William G. Gude, the editor of Foundry magazine, commented in a 1966 issue, "The most modern foundry built today is likely to be obsolete to a large extent 20 years from now, if not sooner.

In 1969, AMERICAN acquired Darling Valve and Manufacturing Company in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with a facility in Beaumont, Texas.

A new melting system, including the largest cupola of its kind in the world, was introduced in 1970, and AMERICAN moved from a sand-spun casting process to a generation of deLavaud metal molds, significantly improving productivity.

A new melting system in 1972, including the largest cupola of its kind in the world, would supply the new iron for this pipe, and American would move from a Sand Spun casting process to a generation of deLavaud metal molds, still used today.

Jerry Edwards, the president and owner of the highly-reputed Jordan Machine Company in Alabama from 1979 until his retirement, first encountered CNC technology during his 26-year tenure at ACIPCO, and applied it at his new company.

In 1997, ACIPCO created the Threat Response Team, the purpose of which was to prevent violence in the workplace.

In 1999, the company announced the formation of a new division, American SpiralWeld Pipe Company.

ACIPCO human resources director Leann Barr told the Birmingham Business Journal in April 2000 that "Safety is an essential part of the workplace.

The Water Environment Federation awarded ACIPCO an Innovative Technology Award in 2001 for this development.

2002: For the fifth year in a row, the company is named to Fortune magazine's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For in America.

In 2015, American Steel Pipe completed a $70-million expansion, including a new 150,000-square-foot processing facility and upgrades to its two mills.