As more cities and states are imposing bans on silica grit used to clean bridges, buildings and other infrastructure, suppliers offering safer alternatives are seeing tremendous growth.
“Typical sandblasting is being eliminated across the country,” says Keith Eliason, vice president of EcoQuip Inc., a Virginia Beach, Va.-based supplier and one of the newest companies on the blasting scene this year. It is the North American distributor for a U.K.-designed machine called BlastGreen, providing trailer- and skid-mounted units with working pressures of up to 125 psi.