Construction Tools
Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. is an industry leader in General, Marine, and Municipal Construction Support Tooling for Pressure Barrier Isolation and Pressure Test Tooling, Work Assist Tooling, Pipeline Connectors, and the supporting Controls, Test, and Operational Equipment for these products. Our experienced design team works hand-in-hand with your Design Engineers, Bid Preparations Engineers, Worksite Superintendents, Contractors, Technicians, and Procurement Teams to get the right solution to you the first time. We pride ourselves on being a unique company that stands apart in our industry: an industry knowledgeable product engineering company with cutting edge analysis tools, a full-scale production machine shop, an in-house elastomers vulcanization & molding department that crafts our SEALFAST® Inflatable and Mechanical Seals, and a state-of-the art product validation/Research & Development Lab.
Our products and services tie heavily into the Construction Industry: Pipeline Test Plugs; open channel to closed tunnel Bulkheads and Sealing Barriers; Pipe Joint Testers for progressive pressure testing; Lifting Tools and Pipe Pullers; Diver and ROV-Installed Plugs, Connectors, and Clamps; Specialized Shaft, Tunneling, and Mining Tools; standard Environmental Containment Solutions; and much, much more! If you need standard product solutions in a hurry, give us a call — we may have it on the shelf. We also rent some of our products based on availability. If you need highly specialized, application-specific, custom products, chances are we can get it to you faster than anyone else! We have a long list of successful, rapid turn-around, highly complex projects, and we’d love to add you to our long list of repeat customers!
You can find our products on construction sites ranging from Wastewater Treatment Plants, Pumping Stations, Water Distribution Centers, Pipeline Installation and Repair, Nuclear and Conventional Energy Plants, Hydroelectric and Conventional Dams, Shipyards, and Offshore Oil Installations, to name a few. Take advantage of our experience working hand in hand with our clients on countless previous successful projects to get you to the right solution the first time!
Have Specific Requirements?
We specialize in custom solutions! Take a look at a few of our proven custom solutions or let us know your requirements. Our engineers and production staff are equipped to travel around the world at a moment’s notice to assist you with your needs!
Let's Talk!
Contact us today to discuss our rates or to book an appointment with one of our engineers.
CONSTRUCTION SOLUTIONS
Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. is well known for our temporary and permanent Isolation Pressure Barriers and Bulkhead Products. Constructors and technicians have safely worked behind our single point isolation pressure barriers using our reliable single or redundant SEALFAST® Inflatable and Mechanical Seals for decades. We can adapt to nearly any existing or new build infrastructure, including engineered anchor-in-place, strong-back, convenient restraint screw, and other proprietary restraining systems. We design, fabricate, and test our products to nearly any size, shape, or pressure rating, specializing in innovative installation work plans. Our clients trust us time and time again because we have a long, proven history of success with our designs.
COMMON APPLICATIONS:
• Shaft, Tunnel, Drift, Duct, Channel, Intake Isolation Barriers
• Pressure Rated Grout and Concrete Forms
• Temporary and Permanent High Flow Bypass Barriers
• Fluid and Waste Containment Barriers
We design and manufacture a wide variety of shape, size, and pressure rated, Pipeline Isolation and Pressure Test Plugs. Similar to our large isolation barrier product lines, we utilize an array of load-rated integral restraint systems, coupled with our field proven SEALFAST® Inflatable and Mechanical Seals, providing the most trusted products on the market. Our plug designs can range from permanent, long-term pressure barriers to those focusing on rapid installation and deployment, such those found in pipeline pressure testing. Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. provides solution product lines for carbon steel, stainless steel, ductile iron, PVC, FRP, and concrete pipe as well as for thin wall tubes, to name a few. If you have it, we can seal it! Give us a call today!
COMMON APPLICATIONS:
• Pipeline Pressure Test Plugs
• Small Pressure Isolation Barriers
• Debris Blocks
• Pipeline Bypass Connectors
Many of our Isolation and Test Tools can be used standard or customized for Underwater and Marine Construction. We have worked with Diving Technicians, Constructors, and ROV Operators for decades, designing and optimizing tools specifically for the challenges that exist in subsea, gray and blackwater diving environments. Our tools are commonly used to service valves, sea chests, underwater pipelines, submerged intakes, hydroelectric penstocks, and for general construction zone water isolation. Many of our products are also used as direct gates for channels, ducts, and shafts. Call us today to work with one of our experienced Marine Engineers.
COMMON APPLICATIONS:
• Sump Repair Isolation and Test Plugs
• Water Intake and Outlet Plugs
• ROV Plugs and Clamps
• Underwater Connectors
Use SEALFAST® Inflatable and Mechanical Joint Testers to verify pipeline joint and weld integrity progressively, connection by connection, without filling and pressurizing entire piping systems. We have Joint Testers that flex around elbows, that split and break down to fit through smaller cross-sections (manholes), and that test multiple size pipes at the same time. We have product lines for pressure ranging from vacuum pressure to over 5000 psi for round pipes, out of round piping systems, rectangular, and irregular shaped cross-sections.
COMMON APPLICATIONS:
• Pipeline Weld/Joint Testing (Single Joint Verification)
• Flange Joint/Weld Pressure Testing
• Tee and Cross Fitting Isolation
See our line of Annular Sealing Tools and Grout Packers. These products can be used to provide temporary to permanent seals in wall piping penetrations, can pressure test between double containment piping, or can be used for grout forms when pumping in the annular spaces between pipes. We can fabricate these products to be in single pieces, split for installation into existing piping systems, and much more. SEALFAST® Annular Seals can be designed for eccentric or misaligned piping systems and are incredibly flexible as debris blocks and self-contained pressure barriers.
COMMON APPLICATIONS:
• Wall Pipe Penetration Seals
• Double Containment Pipe Seals and Pressure Testers
• Grout Packers and Forms
Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. designs and builds specialized Work Assist Tools, including Lifting Tools, Pipe Pullers, Packing and Filling Aids, and other Support Tooling often found in construction site settings. We design safe, redundant, rugged tools that make complicated or awkward lifting and work positioning tasks SIMPLE. Our flexible SEALFAST® Elastomers and other proprietary gripping, holding, and sealing systems are maximized when used in our innovative mechanical system designs, focusing on safety and human factors.
COMMON APPLICATIONS:
• Pipe Lifting and Pulling Tools
• Packing and Filling Assist Equipment, Dust Mitigation
• Work-holding and Handling Tools
TURNKEY CONTROLS AND UTILITIES
Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. designs and fabricates control panels, utilities management assemblies, pressure monitoring and regulating systems, and Turnkey Functional Test and permanent Operational Controls Systems. We test frequently in our Lab and now offer our experience building some of the most sophisticated pneumatic, hydraulic, and electrical systems direct to you! Need designs to pressure piping and fitting codes, compliant with NSF 61? No problem.
COMMON APPLICATIONS:
• Pneumatic and Hydraulic Control Panels and Manifolds
• Hose Assemblies and Management Systems
• Test Gauge, Pump, and Valve Assemblies
• Engineered Turnkey Controls and Utilities Systems
We manufacture our SEALFAST® Elastomers – Inflatable and Mechanical Seals for a wide variety of construction project needs, including grout packing, annular space sealing (piping penetrations), isolation barrier seals, gaskets and weather stops, and lifting aids, for example. Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. stocks a large selection of common materials, including EPDM, Natural Rubber, Buna-N, Neoprene, Silicone, Urethanes, and Viton®. Call us today to discuss your application.
COMMON APPLICATIONS:
• Grout Packers and Annular Seals
• Door, Gate, and Hatch Seals
• Weather Seals
We also have a wide selection of Isolation and Test Tooling specifically for the Mining and General Tunnel & Shaft Boring Industries. Our products are used directly on mining and boring machines, creating flexible, durable pressure sealing. We also provide a wide variety of barrier and containment products for fluid and waste control – many customized specifically for your application.
COMMON APPLICATIONS:
• Micro-Tunnel Boring In-Pipe Bulkheads, Barriers, and Plugs
• Fluid and Waste Storage and Containment Barriers
• General Water-Stop Shaft, Tunnel, and Channel Pressure Barriers
Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. specializes in product validation, research & development, and solution optimization activities. In addition to design and fabrication, it’s what we do, every day, all day! Need real world functional verifications or simulated pressure and flow environments? Bring your design and technician teams right into our shop, where we learn together, proving products, ideas, and installation methods out before tools hit the field. We cater to our client’s engineers and technicians for general construction, underwater construction, general ROV and robotic industry equipment, all in a shop fully supported by our highly experienced product technicians and engineers. We also bring some of the most state-of-the-art measurement and observation instrumentation available in the industry to each and every project; no verification test is too big, complicated, or time consuming! Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. can also provide, upon request, site support technicians and engineers for field testing, mock-ups, commissioning, and installation.
WHY MECHANICAL RESEARCH & DESIGN, INC.?
Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. is a different kind of company. We are a tight-knit team of product and field experienced engineers and technicians who know how to get to the heart of your problems, continually strive for innovative solutions, and never give up! Our engineers work with cutting-edge linear and non-linear finite element analysis tools and are supported in-house by a full production machine shop, a rubber vulcanization & molding department, and testing Lab. We can do it all under one roof. Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. has many standard products on the shelf and we are the best at rapid customization turn-around. Give us a call today!
Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. provides a wide variety of other standard and customized tools.
• To learn more about our Environmental Tools, click here!
• To see some of our Nuclear Tools, click here!