Training Construction Workers in Abrasive Blasting

LIUNA Training of Michigan (LTM) purchased and installed its first ever Titan blast room in 2024. Unlike the blast rooms in manufacturing environments, the blast room is used for training veteran workers and apprentices in all aspects of pipeline work.

For veterans, it serves as a refresher to keep their skills sharp; for apprentices, it provides valuable, hands-on experience to prepare them for actual field work.

Abrasive blasting plays a key role in the process of pipe preparation, which is why it is included in LTM’s course curriculum. Each class starts off with the students blasting a small piece of pipe to clean the surface and meet the manufacturer specifications for a particular coating. The pipe is blasted until it fits the proper blast profile required for that coating.

Once the proper profile is achieved, students prepare the coating (such as fusion bonded epoxy (FBE), polyethylene, or polyurethane), apply it, then wait for it to dry.

They will then check the coating thickness and drying rates – the same rigorous inspection they would perform if the pipe were going into the ground. If the inspection shows the pipe does not meet the proper standards, they will blast off the coating and start the process again on the same pipe.

“Students may need to blast the same piece of pipe 10 times before they really know what they’re doing,” says Jeff Smrz, LTM’s assistant director of training.

You can read the full write up at the April 25, 2025 Manufacturing Engineering magazine; the LIUNA story, and Titan’s blast room, were featured in the print edition. Link to online article, “Blasting Ahead on Training.”