Blaw-Knox is a manufacturer of
road paving equipment. The company was created in 1917 from the merger of Blaw Collapsible Steel Centering Company and the Knox Pressed and Welded Steel Company. Blaw-Knox was sold to new owners in 1968, changed owners a few times thereafter, and continues as the Volvo Blaw-Knox brand of paving equipment, sold to
Volvo Construction Equipment
Volvo Construction Equipment - Volvo CE - (originally Munktells, Bolinder-Munktell, Volvo BM) is a major international company that develops, manufactures and markets equipment for construction and related industries. It is a subsidiary and busin ...
since 2007. Since July 2020 it is owned by Gencor Industries Inc.
Early history
In 1906, Jacob B. Blaw created the Blaw Collapsible Steel Centering Company, located in New Jersey, to manufacturer his patented steel form used to construct improved concrete circular tubes for sewers and tunnels.
In 1909, Luther Knox created the Knox Pressed and Welded Steel Company to manufacture steel products used in high temperature applications. In July 1917, the firms merged to form the Blaw-Knox Company.
[Annual Reports of Pittsburgh Area Public Companies]
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the public library system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its main branch is located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and it has 19 branch locations throughout the city. Like hundreds of other Carn ...
Retrieved 2017-11-08.
Blaw-Knox added the construction of radio towers to its operation in 1927, and soon developed the distinctive diamond-shaped Blaw-Knox Tower
The Blaw-Knox company was an American manufacturer of steel structures and construction equipment based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company is today best known for its radio towers, most of which were constructed during the 1930s in the ...
design of vertical, medium wave radio towers.[ Several are now listed on the US ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
In 1929, Blaw-Knox purchased the A. W. French & Company paving equipment company, which manufactured machines that produced concrete roads, a natural extension of the Blaw-Knox expertise in concrete and steel works.[
]
Paving equipment
As highway construction moved away from rigid concrete construction, Blaw-Knox began making highway pavers for the new method of flexible asphalt paving (tarmac Tarmac may refer to:
Engineered surfaces
* Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902
* Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded ta ...
).
In 1931 Blaw-Knox introduced a form-riding finisher for asphalt paving. By 1932 they released the first self-propelled non-form riding finisher for the placement of stones and asphalt.[ Until this time it had been common to pave roads using formwork on either side of the pavement. These new machines were essentially a self-propelled tailgate spreader that closely followed the asphalt truck. In 1943 they introduced the first road widener. In 1954 they introduced the first wheel-driven, rather than track-driven, paver.][ The front wheels rode on the prepared base, while the rear drive wheels rode on the new asphalt pavement. The screed was mounted between these wheels and was able to average out irregularities. In 1956, they developed the first auto-grade-and-slope pavers.][
Blaw-Knox went on to establish a broad line of paving machines for the US and UK markets. The UK employed a distinctly different paving method, applying a deeper mat of asphalt than was common in the US, which resulted in a marked reduction in paving speed.
The Blaw-Knox UK design and manufacturing division was eventually based at ]Rochester, Kent
Rochester ( ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about from London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gillin ...
, in southeast England, on the former site of the Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
factory.
Changes in ownership
Blaw-Knox was purchased by White Consolidated Industries
The White Sewing Machine Company was a sewing machine company founded in 1858 in Templeton, Massachusetts, by Thomas H. White and based in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1866.
History
Founded as the White Manufacturing Company it took the White S ...
(WCI) in May 1968.[ The Blaw-Knox Construction Equipment Corporation name was used for the new WCI subsidiary.
In April 1994, WCI sold the Blaw-Knox unit, based in ]Mattoon, Illinois
Mattoon ( ) is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 16,870 as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Lake Land College and has close ties with its neighbor, Charleston. Both are principal cities of the Charlestonā ...
, to Clark Equipment Company
Clark Equipment Company was an American designer, manufacturer, and seller of industrial and construction machinery and equipment.
History
Clark's predecessor was the George R. Rich Manufacturing Company, founded in 1903 in Chicago, Illinoi ...
for US$144 million ($ million today).
In March 1995, Ingersoll-Rand
Ingersoll Rand is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technologies) ...
offered $1.34 billion ($ billion today) in a hostile takeover bid for Clark Equipment Company. Clark cited its Blaw-Knox unit as a reason for the US Federal Court to stop the takeover, claiming that Ingersoll-Rand would violate Federal antitrust laws since Ingersoll-Rand already controlled a significant share of the paving equipment business, having purchased the German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
paving equipment company ABG in 1990, while Blaw-Knox owned a major share of the US paving market (which would grow to 50% of all new pavers bearing the Blaw-Knox brand by 2006). A few days later, in April 1995, Clark accepted a higher $1.5 billion ($ billion today) offer from Ingersoll-Rand, who became owners of Blaw-Knox and all other Clark companies. Ingersoll-Rand soon sold the UK design and manufacturing division to Babcock, while keeping the North American operations of Blaw-Knox as a stand-alone unit in its road construction equipment division.
In February 2007, Ingersoll-Rand accepted an offer of $1.3 billion ($ billion today) from Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
for the road construction equipment division, including the Blaw-Knox brand and the ABG brand.
In July 2020, Volvo Construction Equipment
Volvo Construction Equipment - Volvo CE - (originally Munktells, Bolinder-Munktell, Volvo BM) is a major international company that develops, manufactures and markets equipment for construction and related industries. It is a subsidiary and busin ...
sold Blaw-Knox pavers to Gencor Industries Inc.
References
External links
Official site
News of the Rochester factory closure
{{AB Volvo
Companies based in New Jersey
Construction equipment manufacturers of the United States
Volvo Group