Not logged inAmerican Welding Society Forum
Forum AWS Website Help Search Login
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / arkansas bell hole
- - By welder16 Date 11-12-2003 02:46
my trade school teacher has been talking about the 6G weld, and he siad it was call a arkansas bell hole, or somthing close to that, and he told us about this website and asked us to post and see if anyone knew where it came from or why its called that, so post away, hope for answers
Parent - - By thirdeye (***) Date 11-12-2003 04:56
A bell-hole is a term for the extra working room which is excavated in a ditch to allow access and welding of a tie-in weld, sleeve etc.

An Arkansas bell-hole is an old term for a 6G pipe test. I cut my teeth in pipeline inspection in the 1970's and haven't heard that expression in 20 years. I hope someone can come up with the origon.

Parent - By welder16 Date 11-12-2003 12:19
yea thanks for ur answer and i i allso hope someone can tell me the origon of the arkannsas bell hole
Parent - - By JTMcC (***) Date 11-12-2003 14:56
5G is called a bellhole, as was said, because that is the position of the pipe in a regular old bellhole weld. Once you get into the Ozark mountains tho, a regular bellhole becomes a thing of the past as you are either going uphill or downhill, hence, Arkansas bellhole equals 6G.
As was posted earlier, a bellhole is a place in the ditch that's been widened to make room to weld.

JTMcC.
Parent - - By RonG (****) Date 11-12-2003 23:33
Huh?

So if you set up for a 5G in Arizona and take it to Arkansas to weld it, it becomes a bellhole?

Seems like West Virgina would be better because just about all of WV is on 45 degree incline.

I guess if you did it in Calif's Death Vally it would be a Hellhole.
Parent - - By TRC (***) Date 11-13-2003 00:44
Couple of things
1. It's said that if WV was flatened out it would be bigger than Texas.
2. Bell holes are used a lot when doing utility work in urban areas when paving cost become a consideration.
3. It is very poplar to do gas service abandoments using a 1' square hole cut in the black top and dig down to the main and create a true bell hole where the bottom of the hole is larger than the top. The work is than done using special tools made on extendtions. The person stands up top and performs the labor.
4. Welding in a true bell hole has basiscally become outlawed due to OSHA regulations in the shoring of trenches.
5. And yes Ron most of the bell holes that I was ever in were hell holes.

A final note to you younger folks who may be entering a trade that requires you to get into an excavation make sure you don't get into ANY trench that is over 60" deep without shoring. Shoring, lagging whatever you want to call it, some type of mechanical reforcement to keep the sides from coming in on you. Also it's a common sense thing. If it's 36" deep and the walls are falling in don't get in the trench. I saw a safety video where a guy was killed and he was only buried from the waist down. The video said that hydrostatic shock killed him. Go to a safety web site and find out what the law is.


Ted
Parent - By jwright650 (*****) Date 11-13-2003 11:28
Your words of caution are well warranted. Trenches can and will collapse if the right conditions exist.
John Wright
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / arkansas bell hole

Powered by mwForum 2.29.2 © 1999-2013 Markus Wichitill