For more than 115 years, the Weatherly Casting and Machine Co. has served as our area's top full-service foundry.

Together, Weatherly Casting and its sister company, Hazleton Casting, form the leading alloy foundries in eastern Pennsylvania.While some of their projects are viewed by thousands each day - Weatherly Casting had a hand in decorative and support elements outside the Washington, D.C., Metro escalator foyers, and the steel fence outside the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History - it's the foundry-produced parts that you don't see that have the biggest impact on our lives."A modern society includes so many things that are taken for granted. We expect there to be heat in the winter, and cooling in the summer. We take for granted that the lights will turn on when we flip a switch," said Weathering Castings owner Michael Leib. "Our products make these things possible."They work heavily in the power generation industry, supplying the parts that keep power generation companies online, and with companies such as DuPont that are heavily entrenched in the pharmaceutical and chemical engineering field. Weatherly Casting has also designed, poured and tested parts for dredging equipment, used to assist mining operations but also to dredge ports and keep international trade flowing. Their foyer is home to a photo of a 10,000-pound auger, which is used on the dredge Oregon to keep ports open for safe and reliable passageway through Portland Harbor.Creating a partParts typically begin as blueprints, which are analyzed by Weatherly Casting's engineers.Employees utilize Computer Assisted Design software to simulate the casting process and create models to explore potential problems before the first casting is poured."We are a quality producer of special alloy castings, which is something unique in our industry," Leib said.The company offers a wide variety of specialized and proprietary alloys, from carbon steel and low and high alloy steel to nickel- and copper-based alloys. They also offer metal blends that are resistant to heat, corrosion, abrasion or acid corrosion, and strive to supply the right material to withstand nearly any environment.Each alloy is tested for its chemical composition before casting and is then poured into a custom-built pattern made of timber or resin.Parts are cured, cooled and cleaned before inspection. Finished products can also be heat-treated and machined to ensure that the parts meet strict tolerances.Experience mattersEmployees have an average of 20 years of foundry experience.And while many of the steps and their dedication to quality control have remained the same for decades, the company is continuously looking for new ways to use technology to improve and refine each step."We're using technology to improve our process, to improve our processing," he said.Early rootsWeatherly Casting and Machine Co. began as a foundry and machine shop for the Lehigh Valley Railroad - not a surprising start for a company that sits just feet from Lehigh Valley's former tracks.The company was founded in 1900 by local residents to meet both rail and local foundry needs after the railroad's foundry closed."Our first castings were for parts for Lehigh Valley Railroad," Leib said. "We've found a lot of historical documents here, for deeds and contracts with the Lehigh Valley Railroad."Employees have also found early alloy formulations, a peek into the past of a company that continues to pride itself in its specialized alloys.Demand for castings is ever-changing, said Leib, who noted that the company has had to adapt to changes in industry and EPA regulations.EPA regulations have drastically altered the face of coal-generated electricity, for example, an industry that Weatherly Casting once counted as its main business.Today, they are expanding into new industries and fields and finding new ways to remain relevant."We're always looking to expand into new areas," he said. "It's so important to be flexible in our industry and to have a short lead time."