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Underwater welding, by far, is one of the most challenging professions out there. It is not as simple as regular welding. In underwater welding, welders need to spend quite a lot of time underwater to repair underwater pipes beneath drilling platforms, on some parts of the rigs, or the platform structure itself, and various other challenging tasks.
Given the inherent risks and the specialized skills required for such jobs, underwater welders are often paid significantly higher to compensate for the potential hazards and the intense nature of their work. Their earnings reflect the high level of danger involved in welding under pressure in aquatic environments.
Now you may ask how deep do underwater welders go. Below 15 meters, underwater welders seldom conduct any actual “welding,” although there is plenty of other marine work available for which underwater welders need to go deeper.
Today, we will talk about everything you need to know to understand the depth an underwater welder needs to go and many more.
How deep can underwater welders work?
Underwater welding can take place at depths ranging from 30 to 400 feet in saltwater.
But, due to the physiological capabilities of divers to operate welding equipment at high pressures and practical issues surrounding the installation of an automated pressure or welding chamber at depth, dry hyperbaric welding has been limited to less than 400 m or 1,300 ft of sea depth.
For wet welding, divers can travel rather deep, with a maximum depth of roughly 100 FSW. Depending on the welder, wet welding works well at depths less than 60 FSW.
Whereas for dry hyperbaric welding, divers go to a depth of 1,000 FSW in most situations. Depending on their experience and profession, divers can sometimes go much deeper.
What are the risks associated with prolonged diving?
If you dive for too long, there are numerous sicknesses that you can suffer from. Below, we will discuss a few of the most common diseases or injuries you can suffer from due to over diving.
Nitrogen Narcosis
To breathe underwater, deep-sea divers utilize oxygen tanks. Typically, these tanks contain a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases. The increasing pressure can cause these gasses to change after divers swim deeper than roughly 100 feet.
When breathed, the changed gasses might cause odd symptoms, giving the impression that the individual is inebriated. Nitrogen narcosis is a short-term condition with substantial health implications.
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness is another serious health condition that divers can suffer from. During decompression, dissolved gases emerge from the solution as bubbles inside the human tissues, resulting in decompression sickness.
DCS most usually happens during or shortly after an underwater decompression ascent. It can cause a variety of symptoms, ranging from joint discomfort and rashes to paralysis and death.
Barotrauma
Barotrauma occurs when your body’s tissues near air-filled areas, such as your ears, sinuses, dental roots, and lungs, are harmed because your body can’t balance the pressure between it and the surrounding water. Water pressure rises as you drop, and the volume of air in your body decreases.
This might result in issues such as sinus discomfort or an eardrum rupture. The water pressure in your lungs lowers as you rise, and the air in your lungs expands. This can cause the air sacs in your lungs to burst, making breathing difficult. If air bubbles enter an artery, they can obstruct it, causing organ damage. You might suffer a heart attack or a stroke depending on where the bubbles are
5 Safety Tips When Diving
Diving is not that risky, and it’s rather fun even if you’re working underwater. But, to make sure that you don’t suffer from any injuries or danger, we are giving these tips that you can follow during diving.
• Never hold your breath
It’s critical not to hold your breath. Just remember to breathe regularly when scuba diving. An air embolism can be caused by holding your breath.
• Never dive alone
The golden rule of diving is never to dive alone. Whether diving for fun or underwater welding, make sure you have a buddy or a co-worker with you.
Before you begin, introduce yourself to your companion. It’s for your own safety’s sake. Before you get in the water, do a buddy check of each other’s diving gear to ensure that none of you has forgotten anything.
• Ascend slowly from each dive
When you come up quickly after a dive, nitrogen is pushed into your system, causing decompression sickness. The nitrogen in your body gets an opportunity to evaporate and do no harm by gently ascending from a dive and performing the safety stop.
• Keep track of your air gauge.
You can only remain below for as long as your tank is filled with air, and you must be aware of when your tank is half full and a quarter full in order to plan your return to the surface.
• Equalize frequently during descent
When scuba diving, you must equalize your ears due to the shift in pressure when you descend to depth. To avoid harm to your inner ear, do this regularly and before you feel any discomfort.
Conclusion
How deep underwater welders go is a bit complicated to understand. In this article today, we tried to answer this question and many more questions related to this.
Before you go underwater, make sure to understand everything properly that including depth of diving and injuries, to ensure proper safety for yourself.
