American Bridge Company, headquartered in Ambridge, Pennsylvania (a community named for the company), was a major structural steel fabrication and erection subsidiary of US Steel Corporation supplying structural steel for bridges, buildings, and naval shipbuilding projects throughout the mid-twentieth century. American Bridge supplied structural steel for US Navy shipbuilding projects — providing fabricated steel hull sections, structural assemblies, and deck plates — and furnished structural steel for naval shore facility construction at naval stations, shipyards, and air stations. Structural steel in naval shore facilities built during WWII and the Cold War received spray-applied asbestos fireproofing on steel structural members as required by military fire protection specifications. Navy Seabee construction ratings erecting steel-framed naval facilities worked in proximity to asbestos-containing spray fireproofing applied to American Bridge and other manufacturers’ structural steel during facility construction.

Asbestos in Structural Steel Applications

American Bridge structural steel in naval applications was associated with asbestos:

  • Spray-applied fireproofing on structural steel — the structural steel beams, columns, and deck plates fabricated by American Bridge for naval facility construction received spray-applied asbestos-containing fireproofing compounds applied by insulation contractors during naval facility construction. This asbestos fireproofing — applied by Seabee construction units or civilian contractors — coated American Bridge structural steel members to meet naval fire resistance requirements, with the spray application releasing significant asbestos fiber into the construction site air
  • Steel structural modification and demolition — when existing naval facilities with American Bridge structural steel and asbestos fireproofing required modification, the cutting, burning, and demolition operations on the fireproofed steel structural members released asbestos fiber from the disturbed fireproofing into the work area
  • Shipbuilding structural steel applications — American Bridge fabricated structural steel assemblies for Navy ship construction were incorporated into ship hull and superstructure structures, where the structural members may have received asbestos fireproofing or asbestos-containing coatings applied during construction

American Bridge structural steel was used in Navy shore construction:

  • Hangar and industrial facility construction — the large-span steel-framed hangars and industrial facility buildings at naval air stations and naval shipyards used structural steel fabricated by American Bridge and other manufacturers, with the structural members receiving asbestos fireproofing during construction

VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to American Bridge Products

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from construction activities at naval facilities. Navy Seabees and construction personnel who worked with asbestos-fireproofed structural steel in naval facility construction and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.