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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Pipeline Replacement?
- - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 04-04-2011 22:26
I heard on the radio this a.m that Ray Lahood(?) is raising concerns over our very old gas pipelines and is pushing for replacement on old out dated lines. Sounds like he was pushing pretty hard to have this done....he might be my new favorite person!! Anybody add any more info? Sounds like some work to me, I'm all for it, stood in the shop saying, "go Lahood, replace them lines!!".
Parent - - By altnden (*) Date 04-05-2011 16:13
Who is Ray Lahood? What lines was he talking about to replace? Were they specific ones or just all of the old ones?
Parent - - By altnden (*) Date 04-05-2011 16:46
Ok the US Trasnportation guru. Then he needs to get on the ball and start pushing. Prime Example  is the SAN BRUNO catrastophy.
Parent - - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 04-05-2011 17:38
On the radio they did not specify which lines, just made reference to "some lines are 100 years old and have communities built over the top of them now". They also mentioned the San Bruno line as well in the news. I'm all for it!! Rip them up and lets start running new stuff!! Got some local contacts now so got a pinky toe in the door!!! LoL!!!
Parent - - By junkiron (**) Date 04-05-2011 22:38
i read today that all piping made before 1970 because of the way they were made.
Companies dont even have accurate records of the lines. If they really want to make it safer they would switch to GTAW root and hp, lo-hi out.
Parent - By dbigkahunna (****) Date 04-05-2011 23:31
"If they really want to make it safer they would switch to GTAW root and hp, lo-hi out. "
Uh yea. 1500 miles of pipeline with a GTAW root and HP. LH out. In the wind and across the ditch.
That aint gonna happen!
Besides, it is NOT the field butt welds that have failed. It is the pipe seam welds. Pre 70 ERW is a known in the pipeline industry. But the cost to replace it all will be prohibitive.
What will happen is pipeline integrity specialist's will use risk based analysis to determine which high consequence areas need to be inspected first and based on these inspections what level of repairs need to be made. These will be done by smart pigs and the integrity specialist will be the one that interprets the logs put out by the smart pigs. The identified areas will then be dug out and visually inspected and these inspections will determine the level of repair.
This is going on right not. What holds a lot of companies back is the availability of the equipment to do the inspections and the personnel that know how to interpret the logs.
Then there is the availability of qualified contractors that are capable of doing the work.
You want to be pipeline integrity specialist? That is where the money is going to be.
Parent - - By Pickupman (***) Date 04-05-2011 23:41 Edited 04-05-2011 23:44
Companies are well aware of what they have in the ground but don't necessarily have the money to just replace everything. We have been in the process of updating our system for DECADES. We have replaced miles of cast iron main put in in the '40's along with thousands of service lines. I have seen BARE STEEL mains that were put in during the '30's that are still as good as the day they were backfilled. I've seen millwrapped steel that was in perfect condition. Most of the deterioration is caused by soil conditions and maintenance practices. Where these materials are replaced almost 100% is replaced with PE, not steel. But this is not going to be the cure all either. I've seen alot of older PE-A plastic that was put in during the '70's that is now becoming a problem due to the fusion practices used at the time. The problem is that in order to rehab large portions of a system we have to go to the Public Utility Commission and present a case that proves the "need" to increase rates so we have the money to do the work. No thats wrong. We actually do the system improvements, and then go to the Commission and say we've invested XXXXXXX amount over the last X years and we now need to raise rates to recoup our investment, pretty please. Yes the publics safety is sometimes hanging in the balance, but when they find out it costs MONEY to be safe, no one wants to help pay. I could go on ranting but you're probably wondering when I'm going to shut up so I will.
Parent - - By junkiron (**) Date 04-06-2011 18:45
Your right it's all about the money
Parent - - By TRC (***) Date 04-07-2011 00:32
I'm in the gas distribution business and have been working on DOT mandated main replacement projects for almost three years now. I can't cite DOT replacemrnt requirements but in two gas companies that I spend 95% of my time at they are replacing all bare steel. One is replacing most cast iron. The other is replacing some mandated CI and some based on leak survey data. A lot of the large diameter CI is being encapsulated at the joints.

Shawn, there will be lots of welding for sure but piping with a MAOP of less than 100psi and eight inch diameter will be replaced with plastic. A typical main replacement for me is two TDW 3-way tees, four Sav-A-valve nipples and two caps. We are doing some high pressure steel replacement as well but on this side of the POD it's a lot of plastic- Ted
Parent - By Pickupman (***) Date 04-07-2011 03:12
Where do you work TRC? Sounds like you do the same thing I do.
Parent - - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 04-07-2011 11:03
Sounds like good stuff Ted. We still have places around here that run lot's of steel where there are others that I've talked to that shoot plastic in the ground at the drop of a hat. Almost makes me want to go buy the tools and get "qualified" sometimes, but then I think of how I could train my dog to weld plastic pipe and decide against it. Guess I'll have to start shaking them bushes around here again. Have heard from a source that they are gonna be looking real hard at pipeline management/maintenance at the local distributors.
Parent - By Pickupman (***) Date 04-07-2011 23:26
"I could train my dog to weld plastic pipe". Well it's a little harder than that Shawn, but if you had a pet monkey.:smile: You see, you still need an opposable thumb to make good fuses. It's kinda funny. When you talk to some of the older guys I work with they say when plastic first began being used, only the welders were allowed to fuse plastic. Now we have contractor crews working for us and if you have a pulse you can probably get qualified to fuse.
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Pipeline Replacement?

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