Commercial Diving: You Asked, Here's the Answer

Not completely surprising, I've received quite a few messages from people on Facebook who know my husband and have heard about what he does for a living, but have lots of questions. So for those of you who are curious about what a commercial diver does, I'll explain as best I can.

Pier went through a certification program to become a commercial diver. Commercial divers are, in essence, the guys (or gals!) who work on underwater construction, bridge inspections, pipeline location/fix, demolition and rebuild of structures such as piers, dam work, hazardous diving such as at nuclear power plants, underwater welding, etc. Pretty much any type of underwater construction/inspection/demolition/recovery requires the expertise of a commercial diver.  Pier is an 'inland diver,' which means he normally doesn't dive deep enough to require decompression stops on the way up. Then there are the 'Gulf divers,' which Pier has also done. These are the guys that are diving off of the oil rigs to depths of 250 feet plus, staying in a tube-like chamber that keeps their bodies at their atmospheric dive depth (so they don't have to decompress after each dive, which would severely limit their safe dive time), for 4,6, even 8 weeks at a time. They literally live in a tin can - enough space for beds, toilet that has to be flushed by someone on the 'outside', and that's about it.  Food is delivered through an airlock.  Can someone say "claustrophobia???!" I am very happy that he no longer works in the Gulf.....

Pier's typical work uniform is a wet suit/dry suit/hot water suit, a dive hat (pictured below with a welding shield across the faceplate), a bailout bottle, an umbilical, weights, and his work gear. By dive hat, I mean that this kind of work is not scuba diving work - the guys wear dive hats that are connected to an umbilical - which is a cord of three lines - one for air, one for communication, and one for safety so he can be pulled out quickly if necessary.

From a wife's standpoint - ignorance is bliss! I don't need to know about the day-to-day stuff, really. That said, I am incredibly proud of my husband, because their aren't too many individuals out there who could make the cut of becoming a commercial diver; Pier's been diving for 15 years now.

If anyone is curious and has more questions, please feel free to contact me, or look into one of the references listed in this blog.


Commercial Diving Manual