2024 National Welding Month

In week three of welding month, let’s appreciate and celebrate the talent, skill, artistry, work, and dedication of our welders.

Arc welding is a remarkable process that allows us to bring steel plates and shapes together into the variety of I-girders, tub girders, boxes, cross-frames, cords, ribs, floor beams, and braces that build our nation’s bridges. No weld is made without the able, diligent efforts of welders.

They may go under the hood, gun in hand, and weld up, down, across, or overhead. They may run mechanized equipment, producing fillet welds that are over 150’ long in one continuous stretch. They may make complete joint penetration groove welds in material up to four inches thick and joints 12 feet long – or longer – putting pass after pass in the joint, then backgouging the back side of the joint before carrying on again, producing welds that satisfy stringent x-ray or ultrasonic testing criteria. They crawl through boxes, lugging guns, hoses, cables, and other equipment, squeezing into tight, hot spaces to lay down quality welds.

There are a lot of folks in many important roles at shops around the country, including estimating, sales, drawing production, programming, purchasing, scheduling, inspection, project management, maintenance, training, accounting, and leadership. All of them work to support the welders and other shop coworkers who move, cut, fit, weld, drill, assemble, clean, and coat the steel.

We admire their work, honor their skills, and appreciate their efforts. Thank you for the thousands of bridges produced by welders and their coworkers that come from American bridge shops each year!