notes on pipeline pipe line installation BY WILL C HIGGINS the utah county light power co of american fork utah is now engaged in the construction of power plant no 3 in alpine canyon about four miles east of american fork and expects to have the aa 64 g W 1 aanna an TA f 5 aw av pipe on the skid ready for loading on car photo by vill C higgins plant in commission soon after the first of the coming year preliminary work in the construction of this plant was begun in april or may of af 1909 and several contracts were let for the equipment and different branches of construction st the contract for the wheels for water is the initial power being let to one firm the contract for the dynamos and electrical equipment to another while the i furnishing of the steel pipe and its ansta installation 1 was let to still another firm this last named contract contra ct was let to the F C richmond machinery company of salt lake city and calls for feet of steel pipe while the installation of this portion of the line is under the direct supervision of mr F C richmond manager of the richmond machinery company three thousand seven hundred feet of this pipe is of german manufacture and although ordered by mr richmond since he was awarded the contract has already arrived from germany and it is all on the ground either at the depot at american fork or at the mouth of alpine canyon near which point the work in the construction of the line has been begun this imported pipe is placed at the lower end of the pipe line system where the greatest pressure obtains the pipe is connected by bolted pressed steel flanges and and will stand a working pressure of pounds to the square inch this is the guarantee although the pipe has been tested out to stand a pressure of pounds to the square inch the pipe measures telny feet to the joint and is from eighteen to twenty inches in diameter weighing tin lin the neighborhood of pounds to the joint for the upper end of the pipeline mr pressure resistance of pounds to the ile square inch installation of the line the pipe is hauled by wagon to the lower terminal of the line one length is a load and from three to four horses to the team are required five lengths are hauled out daily as this is the rate at which the pipe is being laid at the present time from the wagons the pipe is unloaded onto a landing or skid prepared for the purpose so that there is no lifting in this portion of the work and thereafter the work of installation stal lation goes on mechanically labor sav ing devices affecting a minimum of expense and time unusual with a work so extensive in its nature and presenting so many difficulties in the handling of this heavy pipe quickly and almost automatically mr richmond has adopted a system a description of which cannot but interest the readers of the mining review in the first place the grade for the pipe line is surveyed the necessary cuts are established and the fills made on this grade a track is laid much the same as a track necessary in tunnel work in a mine the rails on either side being placed a little wider apart than the width of the pipe to be laid on this track is operated a very ingeniously constructed ted car the frame work of which is several feet high and so arranged that thal it will carry a joint of pipe suspended so that it will clear the track and also the pipe that has already been laid when a joint of pipe is needed and as work progresses g a joint is rolled from the skid onto the track the car is run down over it X vi amz 3 T A I 1 il 5 X V 1 2 L t a A ral w i 4 00 starting up the line with a joint of pipe photo I 1 ly y pill C higgins higgini richmond ordered 1260 feet of riveted steel pipe from the pelton water wheel company of harrisburg pennsylvania this pipe is twenty four inches in diameter and comes in thirty foot lengths it has a guar chains are placed beneath at both ends and with hana hand pulleys easily raised to position fo asportation up the line which has 9 sixty five degree pitch the he bower power is derived from a 25 borse oise power electric hoist which is located at the lower end of the line the wire rope is run from the hoist up to the end of the line making something like feet of rope in use at the upper end it passes through a sheave wheel and is fastened to the car which carries its five or six thousand pounds of pipe up the grade as easily and as smoothly as an electric car running on a salt lake street arriving at the point where the last joint has been laid the pipe is lowered from the framework of the car so that it is exactly in position and so that the banges which are lined with rubber can be bolted together with an ease that is surprising when the steel pipe is all in place and the contract finished the car rails will be removed to be reused re used for similar purposes or to be sold as secondhand material the skidway car and the grade for the line are illustrated in this article with photographs taken by the writer the method of installation is of such simplicity that one cannot speak too highly of the inventive genius which perfected it other items of interest the steel pipe portion of the line being constructed by mr richmond will have a head of 1960 feet the reservoir where the water is to be diverted to the pipeline pipe line is located two and a half miles up alpine canyon from the power house now in course of construction this reservoir will hold three second feet of water for a period of ten hours its principal use however will be t to divert the necessary water to the pipe line hue prom from the re reservoir to the upper end ot f the steel pipe line the distance is feet et the water from the reservoir to the standpipe stand pipe will be carried in a wood continuous stave pipe almost horizontally around the sides of the canyon until the top of a mountain is reached where re connection is made with the pipe constructed of sterner stuff the best of steel this wooden pipe is being built by the utah county light power company and good progress is being made it will be in a finished state when the entire plant is ready to go into commission the company is also building the power plant superstructure at the lower end of the pipeline pipe line this is of concrete to generate gene rate power two tan gentile water wheels will be employed supplemented by two westinghouse electric generators of K W each the maximum electric horsepower generated is placed at 2400 which will be conveyed on transmission lines to the towns and cities in utah and salt lake valleys and on into the mining camps of tintic gintic district the power to operate the electric hoist now being used in the laying of the pipe comes over a wire from one of the utah companas comp anys other Z X Q U 4 k view or the pipe line and the car track photo by arvill C fliggins plants the lower terminal of the pipeline pipe line is connected with american fork by telephone A local and independent telephone line is also operated from the hoist to the upper end of the pipeline pipe line the engineer has a transmitter and receiver fitted to his head and orders for the operation of the hoist are thus received instead of the usual bell signals at the lower terminal of the line there is quite a village of tents and in due time quite a pretty little town is destined to spring up there there is also a nice and comfortable camp up at the reservoir the wagon road from american fork up to the mouth of alpine gulch is an excellent one between the two points is located the picturesque town of alpine a 11 little agricultural community which is exceedingly cee prosperous just below the mouth of the canyon a plant has been installed from which water systems radiate to the town of alpine and to lehi the utah county light power co this com company bainy is one of the pioneers in the generation of electrical energy in utah valley besides the water electric plant now in course of construction it has two others in operation in the nearby near by canyons while a steam plant in american fork stands ready to fill the gap when emergency requires the company is a strong one and well up in the electrical world its main office is located at american fork with john H wooton as manager the officers and directors are W E president S L chipman treasurer J R hindley secretary john C bialer cutler james 0 bullock james R halliday james T gardner and george gearge romney