FROM THE FOUNDRY

ron is an element, and steel is an alloy of iron with a very small amount of carbon. In practical terms, cast-iron came to mean a combination of iron with so much carbon that most of it is present as inclusions of free, flaky graphite. An early—and enduring—use of cast iron was as the five arching beams with two hinged elements each that support the 100-foot Iron Bridge in England, built in the late 18th century. Each beam was cast in an open sand mold, and there were 368