{"id":247685,"date":"2025-05-19T17:42:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T17:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/air-compressor\/compressed-air-use-in-the-construction-industry\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T17:42:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T17:42:23","slug":"compressed-air-use-in-the-construction-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247685","title":{"rendered":"Compressed Air Use in the Construction Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"


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My drive to work involves passing through a growing neighborhood in the northeast suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the past few weeks, I\u2019ve seen a wooded lot get cleared & graded for construction of a new house. A week or so ago, heavy earth-moving equipment was digging the basement foundation\u2026and adding to the traffic as huge dump trucks carried the dirt away. Fast-forward to this morning, when I saw that the 2\u00d74 framing of the walls and the placement of the roof joists were almost complete. The backhoes and dump trucks on the lot have been replaced by a small fleet of carpenter\u2019s work trucks, a \u2018porta-potty\u2019 (a real plus, considering the number of workers spending 8\u201310 hours a day on a site that was the utility equivalent of a primitive campsite)\u2026and an air compressor.<\/p>\n

Compressed air has been used in construction since ancient times, when manually operated bellows devices were used to stoke fires to increase the temperature inside furnaces that were used to make metal tools and building materials. The first large scale industrial use of compressed air on a construction project was the building of the Mt. Cenis tunnel in Switzerland. Tunnel construction began in 1857 and was expected to take at least 25 years, with some estimates projecting a timeline of over 70 years. However, technical innovations \u2013 like the development of pneumatic drills that replaced steam-operated machinery \u2013 allowed them to complete it in only 14 years.<\/p>\n

In addition to the pneumatic nail guns and impact drivers being used at the new home site along my daily commute, compressed air has a number of other uses in the construction trades. It\u2019s used for excavation, to power de-watering & sludge pumps, hoists, and even material conveyors. For example, a contractor that was building a large fence on sandy terrain used a Model 150200 2\u2033 Heavy Duty Line Vac<\/a> to remove sand from the hollow fence posts after using hammer drills (which are also air operated, so you know) to anchor them in place. Another user got a Model 151250 2-1\/2 NPT Threaded Heavy Duty Line Vac<\/a> to remove light dirt & sand from holes they dig to set posts in. Both power their Line Vacs with diesel-fueled 185 CFM tow-behind compressors.<\/p>\n

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Heavy Duty Line Vac: Hardened Alloy Construction and High Performance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

EXAIR Air Knives<\/a> are also used by construction companies. One of our customers bought a Model 110218 18\u2033 Aluminum Super Air Knife Kit<\/a> to blow an air curtain onto a conveyor to separate filter fabric out of recycled asphalt. Many lumber & building material manufacturers use them to blow off sawdust and loose debris from plywood, OSB board, roofing shingles, etc.<\/p>\n

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Top: 108\u2033 Super Air Knife is supported & aimed via an array of Model 9060 Universal Air Knife Mounting Systems.
Bottom: Mounting Systems can be \u2018overkill\u2019 for some smaller applications, especially when the user is creative. Yes, that\u2019s a door hinge. No, it wasn\u2019t my idea, but I kind of wish it was.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Another customer uses a Model 6901 Spill Recovery Kit<\/a> with their Model 6395 55 Gallon Premium High Lift Reversible Drum Vac System<\/a> for cleaning up spills of hydraulic oil from their equipment at construction job sites. The ability to vacuum it up without dragging an electric cord from a shop vac through the puddles of oil is a real plus for them.<\/p>\n

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The EXAIR Reversible Drum Vac System converts a drum and dolly into a mobile pumping system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

And back to the Line Vacs, an electrical contractor uses a Model 6086 3\u2033 Aluminum Line Vac<\/a> to pull wire through stretches of underground conduit that are too long for standard fish tapes. They can pull the fish line through 120 feet of conduit in about 30 seconds. The Line Vac also removes any debris that might have accumulated inside the conduit between installation and wire pulling.<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019re in the construction industry \u2013 or any industry, really \u2013 and would like to discuss a potential application for engineered compressed air products, give me a call<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Russ Bowman, CCASS<\/p>\n

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Application Engineer
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