Former small metalworks

Founded in 1855 near the confluence of the Goutelle and Meuse rivers, the Hardy-Capitaine company, set up by Auguste Hardy and Pierre Nicolas Crépel, joined forces with François Hervier to produce railway fittings. In 1889, a foundry was set up in La Haillette, specialising in the casting of grey and malleable cast iron and steel. Innovative, it quickly adopted mechanical casting and, by 1914, had 4 cupola furnaces and 10 annealing furnaces, with capital of 1,500,000 francs.

Taken over in 1963 by Nicolas Amand, it produces spheroidal and alloy cast iron for the rail, agricultural and industrial sectors. In 2008, the plant employed 42 people on a site of 22,170 m², comprising 7,000 m² of covered buildings, 11 bays of brick shed, and a period chimney still standing.