American Bridge Mfg Co (ABM), founded in 1870, fabricates structural steel for bridges and industrial uses. ABM has been operating a Wheelabrator® 8-wheel roll conveyor/monorail for some time at its main plant in Coraopolis, PA. When the company decided to build a West Coast facility in Reedsport, OR, Wheelabrator salesman Kevin Poling contacted ABM about machine requirements and stayed in touch until the project was finished. The new machine, which is almost identical to the original machine in Coraopolis, was installed in the Reedsport facility in May 2003.

This specialized structural roll conveyor/monorail handles materials 4 ft wide x 5 ft high, and descales steel while providing an anchor profile for coating. The machine can also handle larger structural pieces -- up to 8 ft high -- by running them through in two passes. ABM uses a mixture of shot and grit in order to provide profile needed for paint.

The Wheelabrator 8-wheel roll conveyor/monorail offers versatility and adaptability to accommodate a variety of product styles, shapes, and cleaning speeds. The machine has eight 25 hp, 15 in. direct-drive, 8-blade Autoblast wheels with TargetLok™ control cages and V Lok blades. The TargetLok™ control cage adapter allows blasting patterns to be set once, and simply reset after a tune-up is performed.

"Our Autoblast® descaling machine runs 4-6 hours a day. We are very happy with the machine and the level of service from Wheelabrator," says Oren Sanders, facility manager at Reedsport. He continues, "ABM chose to install this Wheelabrator machine as a direct response to the first machine in Coraopolis, where Wheelabrator's level of service has been excellent. Anytime they had a problem in Coraopolis, Wheelabrator responded immediately to correct the situation. ABM knew that the same level of service would be provided to the Reedsport facility."