ForConstructionPros.com

Contractors looking for a silver lining in this economic cloud might not have to look any further than the infrared industry. With tight budgets, many clients are looking toward maintaining their asphalt instead of replacing it. And interest in infrared repair is growing.

But the infrared industry was growing long before the economy turned. Since infrared came on the market, the number of contractors offering infrared services has grown. Most of these contractors, both large and small businesses, are adding infrared as an extra revenue generating service to their pavement maintenance businesses. Or they're adding it as a niche service to either stay competitive or get ahead of their competition. Some larger companies are also turning to infrared as a way to keep their employees busy during down times. Infrared offers these contractors and their customers a green technology for recycling asphalt.

Along with the increase in contractors using infrared has come an increase in the applications it is used for. Infrared has long been used as a method for seamless pothole repair, but contractors are also using it for tasks such as decorative asphalt, thermoplastic application, removal of oil spots, and joint seam heating. Infrared reclaimers can also be used to keep asphalt hot throughout the day or reheat stockpiled asphalt when the asphalt plants are closed.

The uptick in interest is not the only trend this industry has seen over the last few years. Some manufacturers have seen a shift toward larger heating units and all-in-one truck-mounted infrared equipment. Bob Kieswetter, president of Heat Design Equipment, says infrared equipment is trending toward larger units to accommodate full lanes and larger areas of asphalt.

"Everything tends toward larger and larger all the time; bigger boxes, bigger heating chambers," says Ray-Tech Infrared Corporation's President Wes Van Velsor. "And typically, when you develop one thing, it leads toward the development of something else."