At Thomas Industrial Coatings, we’ve found ourselves painting a little bit of everything. From fire hydrants to bridges and from large networks of pipe to other energy-related infrastructure painting – it seems like we’ve done it all in our more than 20 years in business.
And while pipeline painting services differ greatly from, say, bridge-painting services, there are commonalities that transcend. One of which is the fact that our work as an industrial painting company can help restore and protect the already existing infrastructures that span our country.
Let’s look at a few quick examples.
The Eads Bridge painting project
If you’ve been following us at all the past several months, you know that we’ve been contracted to paint the Eads Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri. It’s a very large job that, when finished, will help restore one of America’s great bridges.
The Eads is a very old bridge with very historical roots. In recent years, the bridge has succumbed to rust and corrosion and is in need of both structural restoration as well as cosmetic restoration. Our work on the Eads will be the first time the bridge has been completely recoated since it was originally built in 1874.
We will be supplying a rust-inhibiting coating that will help play a very important role in extending the life of the structure at least another 50 years.
Utility and energy painting for Minnesota Power
Another client of ours that has decided to go the way of restoring infrastructure that already exists, versus only building brand new infrastructure, is Minnesota Power.
Minnesota Power is a utility company based in Duluth, Minnesota, that provides electricity to a 26,000 square-mile service area. They are a provider of energy services and their company’s roots date back to the late 1800s. While they certainly have new construction that they tend to in order to keep their services at their best, they often put money into restoring infrastructure that already exists.
Currently, we’re working with the folks at Minnesota power to prep and paint penstocks in order to ensure their longevity.
The Alexander County Truss Bridge painting project
A third example of our work helping prolong the life of a historic structure is our painting on the Alexander County Truss Bridge in Alexander County, Illinois. This bridge dates back to 1933 and it rests just east of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It carries Old Illinois Route 3 over a tributary to the Mississippi River – the Sexton Creek.
Like any bridge, over time, rust and corrosion had begun to takeover the almost 80-year old bridge. So before applying a three-layer coating, we had to first blast the bridge to a SP-10 near-white blast. We contained the structure for blasting, preventing any of the lead waste from hitting the water below.
Today, the bridge is freshly coated with a Carboline three-coat system and is ready to carry car after car across the bridge toward its destination.
Much more than a coat of paint
From pipelines and penstocks to bridges and barges, everything that we paint is an important part of everyday living. Historic infrastructure that serves as the backbone for our transportation, water and energy industries is made stronger with a reliable industrial coating. At Thomas Industrial Coatings, we have years of experience restoring the historic and protecting the new with top-of-the-line industrial coatings work.
