Heavy Metal
Exploring the Wastelands of Cockerill-Sambre in Liège, Belgium The Cockerill name has been part of Liège's industrial history since the early 19th century. John Cockerill established his industrial complex in Seraing in 1817, which included ironworks and later became an important part of the region's steel industry. Cockerill-Sambre was formed in 1981 through the merger of Cockerill and Hainaut-Sambre, bringing together major parts of the steel industry in the Liège and Charleroi regions. By then the Belgian steel industry was already struggling. The crisis of the 1970s and 1980s led to restructuring, closures and large numbers of job losses. Cockerill-Sambre was taken over by Usinor in 1998, which became part of Arcelor and later ArcelorMittal. The steel industry in Liège continued to decline over the following years. The last major operations at the Ougrée site were shut down in 2014, when the coking plant closed. My first visit to this place was sometime in 2020. My buddy a...