Automated Bridge Girder Metallizing (Thermal Spray) is here and installed at two locations in North America
Our robots always show up, don’t take breaks, and never fail the drug test.
Thermal Spray Depot and Clemco Denmark have formed a strategic partnership focused on delivering automated twin wire arc thermal spray (metallizing) solutions for steel bridge fabrication and corrosion-protection applications across North America. The partnership helps bridge owners, fabricators, and coating contractors improve consistency, safety, and throughput by replacing labor-intensive manual operations with production-ready automation.
Steel bridge components such as girders, beams, and complex assemblies require reliable surface preparation and coating systems that meet strict performance and documentation requirements. As bridge programs expand and skilled labor becomes harder to secure, manual grit blasting and metallizing operations are increasingly difficult to sustain at scale. This partnership addresses those challenges by combining proven automation hardware with deep coating-process expertise tailored to large structural applications.
Thermal Spray Depot brings more than 35 years of hands-on experience in thermal spray and corrosion-protection systems. Expertise includes automated arc spray, plasma spray, HVOF, and zinc and aluminum metallizing for long-term bridge durability. Thermal Spray Depot converts coating specifications into automated production systems through spray-cell design, motion control, process monitoring, metallurgical evaluation, and integration with blasting and painting operations. With an in house metallurgical lab and metallurgist on staff, Thermal Spray Depot has technical support for metallizing startups and seasoned applicators.
Clemco Denmark contributes decades of experience designing and supplying automated blasting and coating systems for large steel structures. Their solutions include robotic and gantry-based blasting and coating cells installed in enclosed rooms with integrated abrasive recovery and dust-collection systems. These systems are engineered to produce uniform blast profiles while delivering high equipment availability, long service life, and improved operator safety. Clemco Denmark systems are also used on other large structures such as wind turbine towers and Smulders—large welded steel transition structures used in offshore wind foundations that require consistent surface preparation over complex geometries. Robots show up every day, don’t take breaks, and always pass the drug test.
Together, the partnership delivers complete automation solutions from surface preparation through thermal spray metallizing and final coating. Systems are engineered as integrated production lines. Blast profiles are matched to coating requirements, spray parameters are controlled for repeatability and traceability, and material handling is designed to support oversized components efficiently.
For U.S. bridge and infrastructure programs, Thermal Spray Depot serves as the primary technical and commercial interface, providing system specification, ROI analysis, commissioning support, and long-term service. Clemco Denmark supplies the automation engineering and core equipment, built to meet North American standards and heavy-structure operating practices.
By combining automation engineering, coating science, and real-world production experience, Thermal Spray Depot and Clemco Denmark provide a clear path toward automated surface-treatment operations that improve coating quality, reduce labor dependency, and support long-term performance of critical steel infrastructure.