Usine

More than a century of expertise in the construction of mega steel structure that represents hundreds of projects from coast to coast. The company's story began in 1879 in Toronto, where a group of businessmen sniff a bargain following the imposition by the Macdonald government of a protectionist tariff and an important increase in the demand for steel for the construction of the trans-Canada railway.

It was October 3, 2014 when it has been heard for the last time the siren for the end of the work shift. The last 180 employees picked up their belongings and closed the door behind them, thus ending an industrial history of over 125 years.

This is the story of the saw manufacturing industry where methods have not changed for decades. The result is this building that has certainly been enlarged over the years, but the interior has retained its old-fashioned charm. You should know that the manufacture of saws requires a mechanical process, but also handcrafted. The expertise of the workers is therefore crucial and above all, a guarantee of quality. On paper, manufacturing is relatively straightforward: take a steel sheet, round cut and then hammered.

This is one of the oldest stationery in Quebec. Founded in 1851 by a american businessman, the company is composed of a half-dozen buildings on a fifteen hectares site. Saying that the site is large is an understatement, not only because it has a hydroelectric plant, but the company is also located on both banks of the Ottawa River, which means that the company is in Quebec and Ontario.

Its architecture reminds of the old ramparts of Quebec instead the image to which one is accustomed to power plants.

The use of asbestos by man does not date from yesterday. Already, more than 2000 years ago, the Greeks used in making funeral clothes. Its name comes from its property to withstand fire: άσβεστος (asbestos, meaning "indestructible").

Cynically, we could almost say that the factory is as large as the village in which it is located. You should know that we are far away in the countryside, it that kind of place where everybody know each other by his first name. At first glance, they should not be over 800 citizen. The arrival of three foreign photographers is therefore not gone unnoticed despite the very early hour at which we pointed.

It's over 92 years of industrial history that ended in 2004 when the Spexel factory was closed down. The story of this plant start in 1912 when is built the paper mill, which took the name of Howard Smith Paper Mill. Over the following years, the plant became the best plant in Canada for the production of banknotes. Thus in 1932, the Bank of Canada commissioned the Beauharnois plant to print all the paper currency of the country, an exclusivity who will stand for more than 70 years.

Normally on Easter Sunday one spends time his or her family, however on this particular Easter a friend and I decided to wake up early and do some Urban Exploration.

What is great about living in Germany is that there are several abandoned buildings to explore.  It seems Germans tend to leave buildings standing when they are no longer in use, which allows one to have some interesting adventures.

Located in São Domingos (province of Alentejo) south of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, the mine of Achada do Gamo is an abandoned open pit mine. Located in the heart of the Iberian Pyrite Belt, which extends from southern Portugal to Spain, the region of the mine consists of the outcropping volcanic and sedimentary rocks that vary in age from 542 to 251 million years.

The history of mining in the area dates back over 4300 years when Phoenicians and Carthaginians already harvested copper during the Chalcolithic period (Copper Age).