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Alcoa came to Southwestern Indiana at a time of economic distress for the region. Major manufacturers had closed or curtailed operations, eliminating thousands of jobs. So, when Alcoa announced on April 17, 1956, that it would build a 150,000-ton-a-year smelter and a 375,000-kilowatt power plant in Warrick County, it was a major boost for both the economy and the community morale.
The first metal was poured on June 9, 1960. Soon after, construction began on rolling facilities. The first fabricated products were produced in 1964.
Today, Warrick Operations is one of the largest aluminum smelting and fabricating facilities in the world. There are 120 acres under one roof, 300 within the fence and 9,000 acres overall.
Located at Alcoa's Warrick Operations are the Primary Metals and Rigid Packaging Divisions. Here, aluminum sheet for beverage and food can ends and tabs is made, along with other flat-rolled aluminum products.
The Facilities
Power Generations
The aluminum making process begins with power produced by Alcoa Generating Corp., a subsidiary of Alcoa. This 742-megawatt facility produces enough electricity to supply a city of 200,000 people.
Smelting
Primary aluminum is produced in the Smelter. At full capacity, the Smelter's six potlines produce 330,000 tons of aluminum a year. Smelting and support functions are part of Warrick's Primary Metals Division.
Can Recycling
Billions of used beverage cans collected from around the country are recycled in Warrick's can recycling process. Recycling aluminum saves 95 percent of the energy it takes to make new aluminum from raw materials. Recycled cans return to store shelves as new products in as little as 60 days.
Ingot
Molten metal produced in Warrick's Smelter and can recycling makes its first stop in the Ingot Plant. At one of six ingot casting complexes, the metal is cast into ingots as long as 30 feet and weighing up to 40,000 pounds. Warrick's ingot plant, at full capacity, is the largest in the world.
Hot Rolling
The ingots are sent through a scalper, where the surface of the metal is shaved to improve surface quality. They are then sent through Warrick's Reversing Mill where the ingot is reduced to a slab about 1 1/2" thick. The Continuous Mill transforms the slab into an 1/8" thick coil in less than four minutes.
Cold Rolling
From the Hot Mill, the coil is further processed on one of two Cold Mills. The Cold Mills reduce the metal to its final gauge, only a few thousandths of an inch thick.
Finishing
Finally, the coils may go through several finishing operations. Coils may be coated at one of three coating lines, cleaned, leveled, dried and recoiled through Warrick's Preplines, or cut to width at a slitter, before being shipped to customers throughout the world.
Warrick Operations ... Tomorrow
We just can't leave aluminum alone -- and never will. Warrick Operations has grown from a simple producer of aluminum to a recognized world leader in the production of high quality aluminum sheet.
From Warrick Operations, Alcoa produces and delivers aluminum sheet for products on store shelves across America, Europe and the Far East. Even while competing worldwide, Alcoa continues to keep strong roots in the Warrick community, where our people live and work.
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