Compressed Asbestos Sheet — Crane Co.

Product Description

Compressed asbestos sheet, sometimes referred to as compressed asbestos fiber (CAF) sheet or sheet packing, was a widely used industrial material produced and distributed by Crane Co., a Chicago-based manufacturer with a long history in the flow-control and industrial equipment industries. Crane Co. manufactured and supplied compressed asbestos sheet as a component material integral to its extensive product lines, which included industrial valves, pumps, pipe fittings, and associated mechanical systems.

The material itself was a dense, flat sheeting product engineered to withstand the demanding conditions found in industrial environments — high pressures, elevated temperatures, and exposure to corrosive fluids and steam. Compressed asbestos sheet was sold both as a finished product and as a fabricated component embedded within Crane Co.’s valve and pump assemblies, where it served primarily as a sealing and gasketing material.

Crane Co. was among the most prominent manufacturers and distributors of industrial valves and pumps in the United States throughout much of the twentieth century. The company’s product catalog reached across virtually every major industrial sector, including petrochemical refining, power generation, shipbuilding, steel production, and commercial construction. Because compressed asbestos sheet was a foundational material in the company’s gasketing and packing applications, its distribution was extraordinarily broad, and it appeared in industrial facilities, refineries, power plants, and shipyards across the country for decades.

Asbestos Content

Compressed asbestos sheet derives its name and function from its primary constituent material: asbestos fiber, compressed and bound together with rubber binders, fillers, and in some formulations, additional reinforcing materials. Chrysotile asbestos was the most commonly used fiber type in these sheet products, though other asbestos varieties, including crocidolite and amosite, appeared in certain formulations depending on the required temperature and chemical resistance specifications of the end application.

The asbestos content in compressed asbestos sheet products was substantial by definition — the fiber content was not incidental but was the structural and functional basis of the material’s performance characteristics. Asbestos fibers provided the thermal stability, compressibility, and chemical resistance that made these sheets suitable for use in gaskets, valve stem packing, pump seals, and flange connections throughout demanding industrial systems.

Crane Co. incorporated compressed asbestos sheet into gaskets used in its Crane-brand valves and pumps, where the material was cut, stamped, or otherwise fabricated into ring or custom-profile gaskets designed to seal flanged pipe joints and internal valve components. Litigation records document that Crane Co. both manufactured products containing this material and distributed compressed asbestos sheet for use by third-party fabricators and maintenance operations.

How Workers Were Exposed

Workers who encountered compressed asbestos sheet in the course of their industrial employment faced significant asbestos exposure risks, particularly during activities that disturbed or degraded the sheet material. Because the product’s function was inherently mechanical — serving as a compressible seal between metal surfaces under fluctuating pressures and temperatures — it was subject to routine installation, inspection, and replacement throughout the service life of the valves, pumps, and piping systems in which it was installed.

Exposure scenarios documented in litigation records include:

Gasket cutting and fabrication. Workers who cut compressed asbestos sheet to size using knives, rotary cutters, die-punch presses, or grinders generated airborne asbestos fibers directly. Dry-cutting operations were particularly hazardous, as they fractured and released asbestos fibers with minimal dust suppression.

Gasket removal and replacement. Maintenance workers, pipefitters, millwrights, and boilermakers who removed old, compressed gaskets from flanged joints frequently scraped, wire-brushed, or ground the degraded material from metal seating surfaces. This process — necessary to achieve a clean, leak-free seal for replacement gaskets — released significant quantities of asbestos-containing dust.

Valve and pump maintenance. Crane Co. valves and pumps containing asbestos packing and internal gaskets required periodic overhaul. Mechanics and industrial maintenance workers who disassembled these units for repacking or repair disturbed asbestos-containing internal components in the process.

Bystander exposure. Workers in proximity to gasket fabrication or removal activities — including other tradespeople working in the same plant areas, helpers, and supervisors — were also exposed to airborne fibers without directly handling the material themselves.

Plaintiffs alleged in litigation that compressed asbestos sheet distributed and incorporated into products by Crane Co. was used without adequate warnings about the health hazards of asbestos inhalation, despite the existence of scientific literature documenting those risks well before such products were ultimately phased out of industrial use. Plaintiffs further alleged that workers in refineries, power plants, shipyards, chemical plants, and other heavy industrial settings were exposed to asbestos released from Crane Co. compressed asbestos sheet products over extended working careers.

Industrial workers generally — across trades including pipefitters, maintenance mechanics, boilermakers, millwrights, and plant operators — are among the occupational categories documented in litigation as having encountered this material in the field.

Asbestos-related diseases associated with occupational exposures to compressed asbestos sheet and similar materials include mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural disease. These conditions typically have long latency periods, often manifesting decades after the initial exposure occurred.

Documented Product Identification

The following details are drawn from public asbestos litigation records, manufacturer catalog pages, technical manuals, and corporate history materials. Each item reflects the product as documented in those sources.

Documented asbestos-use period: 1920-1985

Corporate context: Crane Co. was established in 1855 and became the world’s largest manufacturer of valves and fittings. The company acquired Jenkins (1864-1965) and Pacific as subsidiaries, and also acquired certain industrial pump companies around 1961. Crane ceased HVAC manufacturing in 1968, selling that division to Amana Corporation.

Brand identification: CRANE imprinted directly on valves; Jenkins valves featured diamond-shaped logo with brand name Jenkins inside the diamond; Cranite label stamped directly on packing and gasket products

Documented asbestos components: packing, gaskets, discs, insulation.

Documented asbestos-component suppliers: the public records lists the following external suppliers of asbestos-bearing packing, gaskets, and seals used in conjunction with this manufacturer’s equipment — Goodyear, Johns-Manville.

Industries served: Heavy Industrial, Naval, Maritime, Chemical, Corrosive applications, Power plants, Oil refineries, Process piping.

Naval / marine service: This manufacturer’s equipment is documented in connection with U.S. Navy and commercial-marine service.

Documented product lines:

• Industrial Valves (1858-mid-1980s). Crane Co’s principal business line of industrial valves used in heavy industrial and naval applications. — asbestos components: packing, gaskets, discs.
• Jenkins Valves (1864-1965). Valves manufactured by Jenkins, a subsidiary of Crane Co., featuring a diamond-shaped logo with Jenkins inside. — asbestos components: packing, gaskets, discs.
• Pacific Valves. Valves manufactured by Pacific, a subsidiary of Crane Co. — asbestos components: packing, gaskets, discs.
• Cranite Packing Sheets (1920-1972). Asbestos-containing packing sheets containing 75-85% chrysotile asbestos, sold in sheet and pre-cut gasket form. — asbestos components: packing, gaskets.
• Industrial Pumps (1961-). Industrial pumps acquired around 1961 that incorporated asbestos gaskets and packing purchased from other companies. — asbestos components: packing, gaskets.
• Pacific Steel Boiler Corporation. Boiler division of Crane Co.
• HVAC Equipment (-1968). HVAC manufacturing ceased in 1968 and sold to Amana Corporation.

Crane Co. supplied valves extensively to the U.S. Navy, providing 1,500 to 15,000 valves per ship during WWII. Cranite substitute gasket material was installed on numerous Allen M. Sumner and Gearing-class destroyers built at multiple shipyards. A 1981 internal memo acknowledged Crane was forced to continue specifying asbestos materials in products until acceptable alternatives were found.