For immediate release

HOMEWOOD, IL (May 2008) - Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc. (Graycor Industrial), a subsidiary of the Graycor family of companies, is proud to be recognized for record-breaking accomplishments — the fastest blast furnace replacement outage in the industry and the largest coke battery rebuild in 15 years. Graycor Industrial’s innovative approach to creative contracting, while supplying the safest, most cost-efficient, on-time projects, has set the foundation for what their clients have come to expect.

The Graycor Industrial construction and management team, comprised of metals industry veterans, used intensive planning to complete the fast-paced design-build project on Blast Furnace “C” at Severstal North America’s Dearborn, Mich., plant. The plan included a 100-day shutdown, which completed ahead of schedule in 98 days.

“An outage this short has never been accomplished in the industry,” says Tom Muchesko, senior vice president, Graycor Industrial. “We used an innovative approach that required six months of planning and coordinating for preassembly and modularization of the furnace sections that resulted in the successful completion of this project.”

The Severstal blast furnace was erected in five major lifts ranging from 200 tons to 500 tons, utilizing some of the largest cranes available in North America to hoist the sections. As one of the leading self-performing contractors in the steel industry, Graycor Industrial relied on more than 1,000 employees and subcontractors (1,300 at peak times).

When Graycor Industrial was contracted to rebuild the No. 8 coke battery at Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel’s Follansbee, W.Va., plant, their insight and experience permitted an ordinary coke battery repair to expand into the largest coke battery rehabilitation in North America in over 15 years.

The original repair plan was to replace eight complete through-walls and do partial end flue repairs for the remaining 72 walls. The battery was to be repaired in two halves, so one half would be in operation while the other was demolished, rebuilt and put back into service. As the job progressed the battery was found to need more repairs than previously anticipated, ultimately requiring 48 through-wall repairs, plus 32 end flues. The revised plan included utilizing an innovative method to perform two 10-wall repair breaks simultaneously.

“Our foresight offered Wheeling-Pitt cost saving measures, as well as a contract that gave the latitude to flow with the changes,” says Tom Muchesko, senior vice president, Graycor Industrial. “We see things from our clients’ point of view and know how to coexist in their environment to fulfill both sides’ objectives and get the job done.”

As a testament to Graycor Industrial’s expertise in the metals industry, when AK Steel’s Middletown, Ohio, plant needed to rebuild their blast furnace they postponed their outage until this spring so they could have Graycor Industrial’s team perform the work.

“Graycor Industrial follows a set of standards customers have come to expect,” says Muchesko. “We treat every job like it is the most important job we have, because it is!”

Graycor Industrial Constructors and Graycor Blasting Company will be exhibiting at AISTech 2008, May 5-8, 2008, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, Pa., booth 1418.

About Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc.

For more than 80 years, Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc. (Graycor Industrial) has been taking on the toughest heavy industrial construction projects across North America in a variety of markets including metals, power and process. The company has earned a reputation in the industry for developing long-term, collaborative partnerships that result in projects being completed efficiently, effectively and, most importantly, safely.

About the Graycor Companies

The Graycor companies – Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc., Graycor Construction Company Inc., Graycor Blasting Company Inc., and Graycor International – provide a wide variety of industrial and commercial construction services, as well as industrial maintenance technologies, across North America. As a top ranking industry leader with annual revenues in excess of $600 million, Graycor commits to safe working environments, demands excellence and rewards passion. Established in 1921, Graycor employs more than 1,500 construction specialists at the Chicago headquarters, regional offices and project locations across the United States, Canada and Mexico. For more information on the Graycor family of companies, visit www.graycor.com or call 1-800-455-0440.