From the process of smokestack wreaking to smokestack inspection to smokestack maintenance, there are many different ways that smokestacks are still very much a part of workplaces – mostly in factory settings – all throughout the United States (and likely in many other places of the world as well, though this article will focus here in the United States alone). In fact, smokestacks could even be considered to be on the rise, according to data that was gathered by the Environmental Protection Agency (also known as the EPA) and the Government Accountability Office. This data found that the number of smokestacks that were taller than 500 feet had increased quite considerably over the last four years, a span of time that is less than even half of a decade.
However, as useful as smokestacks can be it is hugely important to take a number of precautions to keep them safe for use. Aside from a visual inspection of the stack to make sure that it is in good condition (a visual inspection that should be happening on a relatively regularly scheduled basis, for that matter), additional precautions will need to be taken due to the height of many smokestacks found throughout the country. Smokestacks will need to be lit, especially when they are tall ones, because otherwise they could pose a danger to any planes flying in the area. If you choose not to place a light directly on the smokestacks, floodlights pointing up at the smokestack from the ground is also an acceptable option for making the smokestacks in question decently and safely visible.
Smokestack wreaking and smokestack demolition is also something that must be addressed in the case of some smokestacks here in the United States. Smokestack wreaking is a process that will likely need to occur once any given smokestack reaches a certain age. At this point, smokestack wreaking procedures can be used to tear down the existing smokestack to make room for a new one, making smokestack wreaking essential in just about all places where smokestacks are present. Smokestack wreaking can also become quite necessary when there are is an issue with the smokestack that either can’t be repaired or is simply so extensive that going through the process of smokestack wreaking and then building a brand new smokestack is simply easier and more cost effective than trying to repair the existing one to avoid the process of smokestack wreaking from becoming necessary.
Avoiding smokestack wreaking procedures can be done, however, if smokestacks are well cared for from the time that they are erected. Ideally, even new smokestacks will be inspected at least once over the course of every 12 months – in other words, once for each and every year that passes. This is particularly important in that first year after the smokestack or smokestacks in question are erected, due to the fact that it is hugely critical to see whether or not the smokestacks are performing well and as anticipated under the load that they are carrying. After this one year check for a new smokestack, binocular inspections, as they are called, should continue to be conducted on a yearly basis – and in some cases even more frequently than that – for all smokestacks that are currently still in operation all throughout the entirety of the United States.
More extensive and intensive inspections apart from the binocular inspection will also be needed, but these are only considered to be necessary once every three years or so – unless, of course, some sort of problem develops with the smokestacks in question and more prompt examination becomes a necessity. These inspections involve full height inspections as well as full interior inspections. When a smokestack is able to pass all of these inspections will full and flying colors, we can assume that it can safely and efficiently be used for its designated purpose, whatever that is in its unique and particular setting.
From smokestack wreaking to regular smokestack inspection as outlined above, there are certainly many different components to keeping a smokestack fully operational here in the United States, something that is very much important.
