U.S. Steel broke ground Monday, Sept. 21, on a $475 million quench and tempering facility at its Fairfield Tubular Operations, the company announced.
The heat-treating line is meant to improve the strength and durability of the oil country tubular goods made at Fairfield, the pipe used by energy exploration and production customers. The company expects the facility to be complete in 2029.
The project will create about 250 permanent jobs, about 220 of them union-represented, and about 600 construction jobs at its peak, the company said. Along with the quench and tempering line, it includes a new training facility, a warehouse and upgraded employee changing areas. It follows a $75 million premium thread line the company announced for Fairfield in November 2025.
“This investment is about building capability, creating opportunity, and strengthening American manufacturing,” said David Burritt, U.S. Steel’s president and chief executive officer.
Fairfield Mayor Herman Carnes Jr., Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens, Commissioner LaShunda Scales, Fairfield Council President Phylis Oden-Jones and Angela Smith of the Alabama Department of Commerce attended the ceremony with company executives.