09-04: Inspection of Pultruded Cooling Tower Components

Pultruded profiles dominate the cooling tower market as the material of choice for field erected cooling towers. Pultruded profiles offer many positive attributes. However, unlike the steel, concrete, and wood industry, the pultrusion industry has not matured to the point of having ASCE endorsed design codes and quality requirements. Therefore, the quality control and quality assurance standards are up to the individual pultruder. This paper will discuss the visual and structural quality assurance and quality control programs utilized by Creative Pultrusions, Inc., and Composite Cooling Solutions, L.P., both at the production plant and the construction site to ensure each member satisfies the minimum visual and structural standards.