Welding is a highly physical service. It is associated with heavy material, usually metal, and equipment. Consequently, high maintenance projects that require welding can be a daunting task to transport on a fabrication day. This is why onsite welding has become very popular among clients with big welding projects.
The benefits of onsite welding
As the title says, the equipment is mobile. Dispatched as 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.
The challenges of onsite welding services
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.
What if your weld is below standard?
If you feel the weld you have been given is not up to standard or if you think it might be a safety risk, it is important that you advise the operator that it must be re-done. If the welds are very poor, you have no choice but to grind them out, as piling more filler on top of an already bad weld is not a safe solution – it might cause a weakening of the area adjacent to the weld. If the job isn’t done properly your new weld will fail.
Sunny Welding maintains a highly forward-looking approach that considers all phases of the project to ensure that the products we produce provide the best functional, safety, and economic standards. Feel free to contact us 0499 889 466, Monday – Friday 7am – 5pm, for onsite welding and structural steel fabrication projects.