For decades, planned outages at power plants and industrial facilities relied on scaffolding to reach critical equipment.
While effective, the process often required significant labor, extended schedules and substantial costs. As industrial operators searched for safer and more efficient alternatives, rope access emerged as a practical solution that changed how inspections and maintenance could be performed.
Among the companies helping introduce the method to the U.S. industrial market is Houston-based MHT Access Services. Founded in 2000, MHT began providing rope access at a time when the technique was still unfamiliar to many facility owners. Today, the company supports power generation, petrochemical, refining, offshore and utility operations with multidisciplinary teams trained to perform inspection, maintenance and repair while working at height.
"Within our four-week outage scope we could not have inspected all that we did in that time frame with scaffold."
The value of rope access becomes most apparent during scheduled outages, when every hour affects production schedules and maintenance budgets. Unlike conventional scaffolding, rope access technicians can reach elevated structures without the time and expense required to transport, erect and dismantle large scaffold systems.
That advantage was demonstrated during a planned maintenance outage at Platte Generation Station in Grand Island, Nebraska. Plant Superintendent Rodger Zawodinak faced a limited outage window and a strict budget while needing to inspect critical equipment throughout the facility.
MHT deployed a four-person team that combined rope access with nondestructive testing and maintenance services. Over roughly two weeks, technicians inspected equipment, evaluated insulation, examined high-energy pipe supports, adjusted 40 spring hangers and replaced six connecting rods. The streamlined approach eliminated the need for scaffolding across the project.
"Within our four-week outage scope we could not have inspected all that we did in that time frame with scaffold," Zawodinak said. "It would not have been done." According to MHT owner Howard Wall, removing scaffolding also eliminated the labor and time associated with transporting materials, construction, rigging and dismantling temporary access systems.
Rope access allowed technicians to inspect areas that previously received only limited evaluation or no inspection at all. Before adopting rope access, Platte Generation Station often conducted abbreviated inspections of pipe hangers using binoculars from ground level. Hangers that could not be seen clearly frequently went undocumented. With technicians positioned directly at each location, inspections became more thorough while allowing maintenance adjustments to be completed during the same visit.
The project also included inspections inside the plant's ash silos and coal bunkers. Using rope systems and specialized positioning techniques, technicians examined interior welds that had never been inspected because traditional scaffold access was considered too expensive.
Building on a safety-first culture
As rope access has matured across North America, its safety record has become one of its strongest advantages. MHT reports maintaining a zero OSHA incident record with no lost-time accidents or fatalities for more than 25 years while continuing to expand its capabilities through certified inspectors, engineers, project managers and skilled technicians.
Rather than accepting access limitations created by conventional methods, operators are increasingly using rope access to complete inspections more efficiently while expanding the scope of work that can be accomplished during planned outages. For facilities facing tighter maintenance schedules and growing reliability demands, that combination of safety, efficiency and access continues to redefine what is possible at height.
For more information, visit mhtgroup.net.
