In this the final column on the Keystone Cement Company, I am visiting one of the five remaining cement companies operating in the Lehigh Valley.

The present plant is quite a contrast to the previous plant. The new landmark for the plant is the concrete preheater, the tallest structure in the valley, which I refer to as the "Empire State of Bath." The preheaters utilize heat from the 2,800-degree kilns to heat the stone before it enters the kiln, a horizontal steel chamber that turns raw stone into clinker.

The quarry uses a conveyer system to move the stone over Route 329 to the plant. A limestone storage building, measuring 175 feet by 782 feet and with a capacity of 20,000 tons, would house two NFL football fields. I wonder if the Philadelphia Eagles would consider the site for these training sessions. They certainly could use some "toughening up."

The old Keystone, like the Universal Atlas in Northampton, used a wet process in manufacturing cement. This requires an excessive amount of energy. Keystone today, as most plants, utilizes a dry process. It requires much less fuel in the burning process thus it's more economical.

The plant has only one kiln. It is very efficient, giving the plant a production rating of 1.3 million tons, double the previous production. The control room, which is the heart of the plant, is a technological marvel, constantly monitoring equipment, fuel and temperatures with safety a number one priority.

The second tallest building on the site is a blend silo with a height of 205 feet, capable of holding 10,000 tons of raw material. Keystone is a giant cement holding company, now owned by Cementos Portland Valderrivas SA Company of Spain.

Besides the Bath plant, it operates plants in South Carolina and Maine. The Maine plant was the former Dragon Cement Company, owned by Martin Marietta. The flagship plant of Dragon operated in Siegfried, Northampton Borough, and was the former Lawrence Cement Company.

The Maine plant uses the old Dragon logo on its cement products. The logo dates back to the early 1900s, when the founder of the Lawrence Cement Company attended the Richard Wagner opera, "Siegfried," and decided to use the opera's dragon on its products, as the plant was in Siegfried, later named Northampton.

Recently, the new management visited the Atlas Portland Cement Company museum in Northampton. The museum has honored a cement worker of the month from each of our five remaining Lehigh Valley cement plants since 1997.

The visiting group included plant manager Rafael Oyaguez, maintenance manager J.C. Izquierdo, mining manager, Francisco Salazar, quality control manager, CPV David Matey, production manager, CPV Cesar Revuelta, solvent manager Jeff Kaboly and plant safety supervisor Dave Reppert.

The museum hopes to continue the long relationship with the new Keystone management team so we can preserve our Valley's cement heritage.

Visit the Atlas museum 1-3 p.m. Sept. 8 or 22 to learn more about the history of the cement industry. It is located at 1401 Laubach Ave., Northampton.

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In two weeks, we'll visit with one of the oldest retired employees of the Universal Atlas Cement Company. See you then.