Was Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I) — asbestos documented in litigation?

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I) — is documented in public asbestos litigation records as a manufacturer whose products contained asbestos during the mid-twentieth century. Workers in industrial facilities, power plants, refineries, shipyards, and commercial construction who handled or worked near these products may have experienced occupational exposure.

Which trades had the most exposure?

Pipe coverers and insulators, pipefitters, boilermakers, millwrights, and maintenance workers are among the trades most frequently documented in asbestos exposure claims. Workers who cut, fitted, or removed asbestos-containing products — and those working in close proximity during that work — typically had the highest fiber concentrations.

How long do workers have to file an asbestos claim?

Statutes of limitations for asbestos personal injury claims vary by state, typically ranging from one to five years from the date of an asbestos-related diagnosis. The clock generally starts at diagnosis, not exposure — mesothelioma can have a latency period of 20 to 50 years. An asbestos attorney can identify the deadlines that apply to your specific situation.

Can workers file claims related to Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I) — asbestos exposure?

Yes. Workers diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or asbestosis after exposure to Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I) — products may pursue claims through civil litigation. An experienced asbestos attorney can assess available defendants, applicable trust funds from co-defendants, and the states where claims can be filed most effectively.

Can family members file secondary exposure claims?

Spouses, children, and household members who developed asbestos-related disease through contact with contaminated work clothing brought home by an exposed worker may be eligible for secondary (household) exposure claims. Wrongful-death claims can also be filed by surviving family members of workers who died from asbestos-related disease.

Industrial-Furnaces

CB&I Field-Erected Storage Tanks, Pressure Vessels, Spheres, and Refinery/Power-Plant Field Construction

⚖ Litigation Record1889-present (asbestos era through 1980s)Asbestos block and pipe insulation applied to CB&I-erected storage tanks, heat-treated pressure vessels, spheres, and process piping; asbestos gaskets and packing on CB&I-fabricated pressure vessels and heat exchangers; asbestos refractory linings on CB&I-erected hot vessels and coke drums; asbestos spray fireproofing applied to CB&I structural steel

Overview Product Facts Trades

Litigation Record: Information below reflects allegations in publicly filed asbestos litigation — plaintiff allegations, not findings of fact.

Premises Description

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (founded 1889 in Chicago IL; today part of the McDermott International group after a 2018 merger) is one of the pre-eminent U.S. field-erected steel-plate contractors — historically the largest builder of large field-erected atmospheric storage tanks, pressure vessels, spheres, and hydrocarbon-processing structures for U.S. refineries, chemical plants, power plants, and terminals.

Through the asbestos era, CB&I fabricated and field-erected:

Field-erected atmospheric storage tanks at every major U.S. refinery, tank farm, and petrochemical complex
Pressurized storage spheres for LPG, propane, and light hydrocarbons at U.S. refineries, gas plants, and petrochemical sites
Large-diameter pressure vessels — reactors, hydrotreaters, hydrocracker vessels, coke drums, distillation towers — for refinery and petrochemical service
Water storage tanks and elevated tanks for municipal and industrial customers
Nuclear containment structures and BWR pressure vessels for U.S. nuclear utilities
Structural steel and stacks for U.S. fossil and nuclear power plants
Cryogenic and low-temperature storage for LNG and industrial gas customers

CB&I’s business model combined shop fabrication (large plate-steel fabrication shops) with field erection — dispatching boilermaker and ironworker crews to refineries, power plants, and petrochemical sites nationwide to build, weld, and stress-relieve on-site.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that CB&I-erected tanks, spheres, pressure vessels, and process structures — as installed at U.S. refineries and power plants — were specified with asbestos block and pipe insulation, asbestos gaskets and packing at flanges and nozzles, asbestos refractory linings on hot vessels and coke drums, and asbestos spray fireproofing on structural steel, and that CB&I’s own boilermaker, ironworker, welder, and field-construction workforce — as well as dispatched insulator and pipefitter trades — were exposed to extensive asbestos on CB&I field-construction projects.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I) has been named as a Premises/Construction Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.

Workers Exposed

CB&I field-erection boilermaker crews (IBB Local members) on refinery tank, sphere, and pressure-vessel construction
CB&I ironworkers on structural steel and field-fabrication
CB&I welders and fitters on plate-steel field construction
Refinery pipefitters (UA Local members) tying process piping to CB&I-erected vessels
Insulators (HFIAW Local members) applying asbestos insulation to CB&I-erected tanks and vessels
CB&I shop-fabrication workforce at CB&I plate shops
Dispatched trade workforces on CB&I EPC field-construction sites

If You Worked on a CB&I Tank, Sphere, or Field-Construction Project

If you worked on a Chicago Bridge & Iron field-erection project — building refinery tanks, LPG spheres, refinery pressure vessels, coke drums, distillation towers, nuclear containment, or power-plant structural steel — during the asbestos era, as a CB&I employee or as a dispatched contractor trade worker, and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

Product Facts

Trade NameCB&I Field-Erected Storage Tanks, Pressure Vessels, Spheres, and Refinery/Power-Plant Field Construction

Years Produced1889-present (asbestos era through 1980s)

Asbestos ContentAsbestos block and pipe insulation applied to CB&I-erected storage tanks, heat-treated pressure vessels, spheres, and process piping; asbestos gaskets and packing on CB&I-fabricated pressure vessels and heat exchangers; asbestos refractory linings on CB&I-erected hot vessels and coke drums; asbestos spray fireproofing applied to CB&I structural steel

CategoryIndustrial-Furnaces Gaskets

Trust FundNo active trust

Exposed Trades & Occupations

BoilermakersIronworkersRefinery pipefittersInsulatorsWelders

Sponsored Legal Resource — Attorney Advertising

Were You Exposed to an Asbestos-Containing Product?

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease and were exposed to asbestos-containing products, you and your family may be entitled to significant compensation through asbestos trust funds and civil litigation. An attorney experienced in product liability and asbestos claims can evaluate your case — at no cost to you.

Free case evaluation — no obligation to hire
No attorney fee unless we make a financial recovery
Statutes of limitations may limit the time you have to act
Trust fund claims, civil lawsuits, and VA benefits pursued simultaneously

Call: (314) 207-2823 Free consultation — available now

O’Brien Law Firm

Asbestos Product Liability & Mesothelioma Claims

Get a Free Case Evaluation

Attorney Advertising. This website is published by Rights Watch Media Group LLC, an independent media organization, and is not a law firm. Visiting this site or submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship. O’Brien Law Firm is a licensed Missouri law firm. Free consultations are offered at no obligation. Legal representation is provided on a contingency basis — there is no charge unless a financial recovery is made on your behalf. Individual results vary; past results do not guarantee future outcomes. This site receives compensation when visitors connect with participating law firms.