Nucor Steel wants to make the Youngstown neighborhood quieter by building a large new roof over more of its scrap-metal pile.

The $1 million roof will keep rainwater off metal that is collected and melted down to make steel rebar used with concrete in construction projects.

Nucor Steel's Youngstown plant is the largest recycling operation in Washington, producing 2.2 million tons of steel a year.

The plant has a large scrap yard containing worn out automobiles, washing machines, tin cans, railroad cars and other metal objects. The scrap comes from throughout the Northwest. Half arrives by rail and half by truck, said Bart Kale, the Youngstown plant's environmental engineer.

Most of the metal is stored outdoors and exposed to rain. Water frequently collects among the depressions in the metal parts so when 30 tons of wet metal drops into the 6,000-degree furnace to be melted, explosions can result. The instantaneous evaporation of the water meeting the heat of the furnace causes loud "steam booms" which rattle windows in the Youngstown area.

Construction of Nucor's new roof is scheduled to begin next month and finish next fall.

About seven years ago, Nucor built a football field-size roof over about a third of the scrap yard. Noise complaints immediately decreased, Kale said.

He noted that more people live near the plant now than when the first section of roof was built, which means that many more people affected by the noise.

The new roof will measure 250 feet by 110 feet and cover another third of the scrap yard. It will be supported by 65-foot-high columns. One side of the new roof will be attached to the existing roof.

About a third of the rebar made at Nucor is used here in Washington. Another third is shipped to California and much of the remainder goes to Canada, Kale said.

"The market is good now," he said. "We're making more steel this year than last year."

Tim St. Clair can be reached at tstclair@robinsonnews.com or 932.0300.