Company News Archives - Page 2 of 10 - Thomas Industrial Coatings

A new project and a safety award received: TIC looks back on June

June was another banner month for Thomas Industrial Coatings. With the Huey P. Long bridge widening project just finished, we’re showing no signs of slowing down as we move on to the New Mississippi River Bridge being built in our hometown of St. Louis.

Thomas will be providing the surface preparation and coatings application to this new bridge construction project set to help relive local traffic congestion, as well as play a major role in the realignment and reconstruction of Instate 70. Last month saw us getting started in our role as we hoisted our 12,000 pound hydraplatform to the road deck so that we will be able to access the cable anchorage points along both sides of the bridge.

As always, our commitment to safety is a top priority with TIC. Safety Director Todd Cook and Safety Coordinator Andrew Everding have been hard at work performing site safety evaluations to identify any potential safety concerns that might affect our crew on this new project. Of course, that didn’t stop them from taking a short break to enjoy the view from the New Mississippi River Bridge, as you can see in the photo.

And speaking of safety, in June, TIC was honored to have once again been awarded the CREST Top 10 Finisher by the Finishing Contractors Association. This award is given to contractors who show incredible excellence in their dedication to the safety training of their employees. For the second year in a row, we’ve placed among the ten safest companies in the world, and we couldn’t be prouder of the work we’ve done to complete such an achievement.

The future is certainly looking bright for Thomas Industrial Coatings. We’ve got a lot more news to share with everyone, so keeping watching this space for further updates, or subscribe to our newsletter to find out more.

Thomas Industrial Coatings proudly announces a fresh website experience

Thomas Industrial Coatings, continuing its commitment to technology, is proud to reveal its newly designed website. Together with St. Louis-based industrial web-marketing agency Gorilla 76, TIC put together a new web experience for longtime customers and new ones alike.

The industrial painting company added many exciting improvements to the site, including better navigation, dynamic project galleries and additional information about the services they provide. Additionally, they put a stronger focus on their blog, inviting users in to not only interact with their site but learn from it as well. The website now features mobile-friendly responsive design, making it easy for the millions of tablet and smart phones owners that use their devices daily to discover Thomas Industrial Coatings.

“We’re excited to present this new look for our website,” says President Don Thomas. “Embracing technology and the Internet has always played a vital role in how we do business. This is just another step we’re taking in ensuring a bright future for Thomas Industrial Coatings.”

In 2012, from January 1 to June 1, the company had 826 visitors access their website from mobile devices. This year, during the same period, they had 1,558 mobile visits.

“The primary purpose of this site redesign was to accommodate the growing amount of traffic coming from mobile devices,” said Jason Hinklin-Lauderdale, a writer at Gorilla 76. “While we were accommodating for that, it made a lot of sense to rethink the site as a whole, ensuring that its architecture, design and content reflected the strategy and goals that had been established for the marketing team.”

In addition to their website, Thomas Industrial Coatings has an active and growing presence on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Thomas Industrial Coatings says congratulations to its workers on another job well done

Since 2008, Thomas Industrial Coatings has had the privilege of being a part of the Huey P. Long bridge widening project. Now that project is beginning to wind down, and soon the men and women of our NOLA crew will have finished their job. Looking back, they’ve put in an awful lot of quality work they should be very proud of over the last five years. But while pride in a job well done is its own reward, our CEO Don Thomas wanted to show his great appreciation for everything Team Thomas has accomplished with a little bit of fun down on the Mississippi River.

Last Saturday, our workers, their families, and our entire TIC office staff were treated to a riverboat cruise aboard the Creole Queen for a night of food, dancing, and music. Everyone got a chance to kick back, relax, and enjoy themselves after years of hard work dedicated to a successful and safe project.

On Sunday, Huey P.Long Project Manager Josh Thomas took everyone on a tour of the bridge, providing a great opportunity for the families of our crew members to see exactly what Team Thomas does on a daily basis. For those who have never gotten a chance to see our team at work, it was quite the eye-opener.

Everyone here at Thomas Industrial Coatings would like to thank Don Thomas for his generosity in hosting such a great event. And to everyone on our NOLA crew, thank you for your incredible efforts on the Huey P. Long project, and for being true examples of Thomas Pride. Congratulations to all!

Another Thomas milestone: 1000 days with no stoppage or delay at Point Loma Submarine Base

It’s not really boasting to say that Thomas Industrial Coatings is one of the best industrial painting and coating contractors in the country. That’s just Thomas Pride. After all, we’ve got a long history of quality, efficiency, and satisfied clients to back us up. But when one of our crews hits an incredible milestone on a project we’ve been hired to complete? Well, it’s hard not to brag on them just a little.

Painting and coating pipeline and fuel storage can be a tough job, as you may have read in an earlier post here on our blog. It’s that type of project that has been keeping our San Diego crew busy for quite some time now as they prepare the surface and coat the fuel farm on the Point Loma submarine base. They’ve put in a lot of hard work to keep up with both the tight deadlines and high standards of quality the military demands, but they’re training and dedication to professionalism has seen them through to a fantastic achievement: completing 1000 days on the project with no work stoppage or delays whatsoever.

Everyone here at Thomas Industrial Coatings would like to say congratulations to our San Diego/Point Loma crew, as well as General Contractor Nova-UCCO Joint Venture and all the other subcontractors who helped us achieve this incredible goal. Once again, our workers have raised the bar for what should be expected of a contractor in the painting and coatings industry, and we simply could not be prouder. Way to go!

(photo of the Point Loma project courtesy of root-pass.com)

What corrosion does to oil and gas pipelines

Pipeline is still considered the safest, most reliable means of transporting resources such as oil and gas among experts. However, safe as it may be, the threat of ruptures and failures still weigh heavily on the minds of those who maintain and build these networks. There are no minor problems when it comes to the pipeline. Even a slight breakage can result in huge, costly repairs and damages to the surrounding environment, and the culprit is almost always corrosion.

Let’s take a look at how corrosion starts both inside and outside the pipeline.

It’s what’s on the inside that counts

Crude oil, whether heavy or light, isn’t much of a problem when it comes to internal pipeline corrosion. In fact, the oil itself has many corrosion-inhibiting properties.

The trace amounts of water, sulfur, and sediment carried within the crude oil, however, are another story. Due to their difference in density, these small bits and droplets can fall out of the flow and begin to collect on the bottom of a pipeline over a long period of time. Once that moisture touches any exposed steel, it can begin to damage the interior of the pipe in the form of microbial or under-deposit corrosion.

Heat can also be a factor in the wearing away of pipeline walls. The hotter the oil, the better its flow, so most pipelines are insulated to keep its contents at a high temperature. That warmth, however, can also lead to the thinning of the interior walls. This can help corrosion find a foothold within the pipe or cause any existing corrosion to worsen.

As you can see, internal oil pipeline corrosion isn’t a matter of “will it happen” so much as “when.” And that’s just what’s going on inside the pipe.

Pretty and protected on the outside

External oil and gas pipeline corrosion isn’t nearly as difficult to protect against as the internal version. That doesn’t make it any less important to monitor, however, especially with more than 2.5 million miles of pipeline exposed to the elements every single day.

It’s true that oil and gas pipeline has a protective coating applied to its exterior to prevent corrosion and make it more aesthetically pleasing. However, much of the network in service today has aged, and these pipes are still wearing the original coatings they received ten, twenty, even thirty or more years ago. These older coatings can crack and wear as environmental conditions beat away at their effectiveness, opening up a channel for water to make contact with the steel and begin doing its corrosive damage.

Preventing pipeline corrosion starts with you

Keeping the line protected from the dangers of corrosion and quickly addressing it when it’s found should be the top priority of any pipeline project. Thankfully, there have been many advances in anti-corrosion paint and coating technology that can help reduce the likelihood of corrosion considerably. Whether you’re considering applying the latest in interior pipeline linings or a fresh coat of protection on an old pipeline, speaking with a knowledgeable, highly experienced industrial coatings contractor is best. By working together with a company who can suggest the most appropriate products for your needs, you can ensure long-lasting protection for the pipe both inside and out.

Safety, quality, and other news from our Huey P. Long/New Orleans crew

For a while now, Thomas Industrial Coatings has been on-site at the Huey P. Long bridge in Jefferson, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans. Our crew has been working incredibly hard providing our special brand of quality surface preparation, fireproofing, and other specialty coatings while it’s being widened. No matter how busy they are, however, our employees know there’s always time for more safety training, and they take the opportunity to add to their knowledge every chance they get.

On March 26th, over one hundred members of our NOLA crew attended a Miller Fall Protection Demonstration and Meeting to help reinforce the already strict safety fall-protection measures in place. The seminar was extensive, covering pre-use inspection, proper full-body harness use and connection methods, how to calculate fall distance and why it’s important and more. They were also shown a demonstrative manikin drop featuring a 6’ shock absorbing lanyard and a self-retracting lanyard to demonstrate free fall distance and fall clearance considerations, and discussed suspension trauma and importance of prompt rescue.

But that’s not all that been going on with our people down south. Our crew was also honored to receive a Huey P. Long Quality Crew of the Month award for February 2013! We’re extremely proud of the work we’ve done so far, and it’s good to see our client is, too. We’ve got more great things to accomplish before we finish the work in June, though. Look for more updates on all of our projects as they come in right here on our blog.