The Old Courthouse in St. Louis, like the dome on the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, was modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, in the Italian Renaissance style. It is built of cast and wrought iron, and controversy swirled around its design in 1861 as naysayers thought it would be too heavy to be supported. Architect William Rumbold proved the structure’s soundness with a test model. The dome features eye-shaped openings called “lunettes” and has a copper exterior.


Cast steel bolts, feet and other compo- nents feature in benches and trash bins located in parks across the country. Cast iron is another popular bench material, often combined with steel, wooden or recycled plastic seats with stainless steel fasteners.


The construction industry factors strongly in iron and steel castings’ projected growth through 2021, according to the “AFS 2013 Metalcasting Forecast & Trends Report.” In the short term, through 2015, the steel casting market is expected to grow 2% (not including investment cast steel), ductile iron 4.5% and gray iron 1.2%.


Valves, fi ttings and pump equip- ment factor heavily into the 3.8% growth in copper-based alloy castings projected through 2015, according to the “AFS 2013 Metal- casting Forecast & Trends Report.”


Mar/Apr 2013 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | 39


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