In 1926, Dan B. Mikesell Sr. founded American Brattice Cloth (ABC) in a rented garage that he shared with the local highway department. Mikesell’s only product was jute brattice cloth, a specialty fabric comprised of burlap soaked in a water solution of calcium chloride. The liquid treatment made the burlap flame resistant, which was required for use in mines. As technology evolved, the construction of brattice cloth transformed to synthetic fibers and PVC films. Although the fabrics are more advanced, brattice remains one of the key components in ABC’s mine ventilation product line.
As the mining industry continued to evolve, ABC made several milestone advancements to better serve its customers adding ventilation ducting to its product line. The positive pressure, layflat design was named MineVent. Later, MineDuct, a wire-reinforced ducting option, was added for negative pressure applications. Today, ABC continues to develop ventilation and fabric solutions for other industries.
