Cottrell Blasting Lines Install

Precision Assembly for Cottrell’s Massive Blasting Lines

In August of 2023, MEI Industrial Solutions, formerly MEI Rigging & Crating, started to receive components from Blastec®, the industry leader in shot blasting machines and surface preparation technology. Blastec engineers and manufactures the world’s most technologically advanced shot blasting machines and these two were the largest they have manufactured to date. Once MEI started to receive the components of the machines, MEI stored the parts in our warehouse until project kick-off for Cottrell. The shot blasting machines are the first of their kind being the largest shot blast machines in the world. The two machines are each 50 ft. in height x 200 ft in length. The sheer size of the machines is impressive and no one to date has had to build these machines until MEI was contacted to get the project done.

In September of 2023, the MEI millwright solutions crew were onsite at Cottrell to piece together the two blasting lines. MEI had a crew size of 4-8 on project site almost every day until project end. Our millwright solutions crew started the instillation of the blast chamber on the first blast line in September, after they set the pan sections which makes up the outer shell of the blast line.

In late November, MEI had a chance to set up the dust collectors for the two machines. The dust collector sits outside of the building. Construction of the first blast line went consecutively until the second week of December. After the holidays, the MEI team returned onsite on January 2nd, 2024, to continue putting up the final pieces to line one. The electrical contractor was also in the process of hooking up electricity to line one.

The MEI millwright solutions team was under a tight deadline to get blasting line one complete so it could be up and running. As the MEI crew finalized line one and deadline was met, they began to receive material for line two. In February of 2024 the MEI team began construction of second blasting line.

Some on-going challenges the crew faced were working at higher elevations, so safety had to be at the forefront of every thought and movement. Also, tight spaces for equipment maneuvering and assembly. The shot blasting machines arrived on-site in thousands of pieces, so extreme and tedious work was performed day-in and day-out to get the lines up and running properly.

The project was completed in May of 2024 and a huge success. One of the main successes with this project is that MEI was chosen by one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of auto hauler equipment, Cottrell to lead the installation of these two massive blasting lines.

The MEI crew has stated seeing these pieces of equipment being erected has been amazing and a project they will always remember. Awesome work by the Atlanta rigging solutions and millwrighting solutions team.