Straight to the point, the first half of this article takes an unbiased look at the advantages gained when an onsite welding service is employed. After covering the ins-and-outs of a service that dispatches expert mobile welders’ right to your doorstep, there’s no time to take a breath. No, if a mobile welder is to address all possible onsite obstacles, then the challenges associated with the work must be identified.
Mobile Welding: The Benefits
Like the title says, the equipment is mobile. Dispatched as an onsite service, all of the joint-fusing benefits found back at the factory now become accessible out in the field. A section of pipe, perhaps embedded in the concrete foundations of a structure, can’t very well come back to the workshop. That length of tubular metal isn’t going anywhere. But that’s alright, a mobile welding rig will slip right into a claustrophobic work area. Structural steel jobs, the kind of work that takes place on a large prefabricated frame, can begin back at the shop, but what happens when the parts are transported to the construction site? Likewise, the key components that hold an offshore oil platform together are formed back at a massive warehouse. Onsite, however, it’s the job of a mobile welder and his onsite welding equipment to fuse those mammoth frame parts in place.
Onsite Welding Services: The Challenges
The clue is in the previous paragraph, the notion that onsite work operates on a large scale. Granted, the mobile welding equipment is relatively compact and light, but there’s going to be a need, sooner or later, to get that gear up high. On an expertly erected scaffolding tower, a cable-supported platform, or some other temporary work structure, onsite welders take risks. They weld underwater, under that offshore platform, drop below ground to weld pipes, or they climb work towers. Visibility is an issue when the weather turns bad, and the opening of a rain cloud makes the work next to impossible. Then there’s a suitable earth point to locate, a period of time to ensure health and safety compliance, and the thought of other nearby workers to consider. Fortunately, there are special screens and enclosures that deal with these risk factors.
As illustrated here, onsite welding services have much to offer. The work can adjust on-the-fly to handle the minute-to-minute changes encountered in the field. The equipment repairs fixed pipes, welds prefabricated frame pieces, and basically brings the welding factory to the worksite, which is as it should be because sometimes there’s just no other option. As for the challenges, the life of an onsite welder can be tough. There are heights to handle, equipment to secure, and screens to assemble, but the work is incredibly rewarding.