LANCASTER — Superheated steel has a smell, a distinct mixture of sweat, carbon, iron, oil and heat. It rolls off the metal and permeates the air. The scent isn't offensive, but rather brings to mind titanic images of industry, the steel backbone of America that to a large degree, forged this nation in the early 20th century. In many Pennsylvania towns, the relics of that age still stand. Lonesome brick buildings tower over weed-choked rail yards, lean into the wind, bereft of the sounds of industry, of signs of life. Yet inside the cavernous shell of one of the three primary fabrication shops of High Steel Structures in Lancaster, the smell of superheated steel is almost palpable. It...
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