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Show Sun Advocate Price, Utah Thursday August 16. 2001 13 tu. -- ' J' jr . Installation of a new 24 inch steel gas pipeline has begun. And over 500 employees on three separate worit crews And locations are scram-- : bling to meet the November 1 dead-line for completion. , ; f Preliminary crews have already been along the 75 mile route from toEIberta which is near Payson and removed the top soil and mart' " the route. Crews then converged three different sites. Hie first tire pipe system inspectingyisual lap and smoothness. The strength ofthe - protective coating around the pipe is tested by passing a high voltage, adjustable electric detector bvef foe coating. An alarm wifi go pffifanydamagedareasaredetected. Now the pipe is ready to be ered into the trench. Foam padding is used to keep tbe pipe up off the bottomof the trench so that thepad-ont-o dins machine that screens the dirt ana removes all of the course rock can fill in 12 to 18 inches of dirt .. around the pipe before the ditch can - . . StartedinPriceandwillgo31miles to Skjtoie drive. through Cbnsun Another crew will go 29 mile from Skyline Drive to Spring Lake.The last crew will go 15 miles from Spring Laketo Elberta. After the route is cleared of the usable , topsoil trenching crews be-gin to dig. They are worldng around an existing pipeline that was in- stalled in 1961. Most of the spacing between the two lines will be around 25 feet, but there are places when the two lines will only be. ten feet apart Then the tope hauling trucks pipe comes in 60 gin rolling. and 80- foot lengths on trucks full-rin- g, low-pri- ce ; be-T- ; equipped with driver trailers so they negotiate the strap hairpin turns getting tothe location. The pipe is laid out next to' the open trench for -what seems like miles. The pipe cxnnes in different thicknesses depending on where the pipe is used. For example, the pipe at the bottom of the hfll will experience more internal pressure than one at the top of a hill. Pipe weighsany-- , where from 87 to 126 pounds per running foot depending on thethick- s of the pipe. Engineers are next on the line as they measure and mark the pipe so the pipe can be bent to fit exactly in the trench as it goes up and down and around in the Pipe bending crews come next. The pipe is inserted info a huge hydraulic - . right-of-wa- '' . be backfilled. Foarois also sprayed into the . - trench every 50 to 100 foot to seal the trenchfrom water entering and following the trench at a later date, Crews used to use sandbags to sccomplisb this, but the foam has proven to last longer,; After the line is buried in the ground, then it is time for the pigs to ': takeover! '. Several different kinds of pigs are used to prepare the line for the transmission of natural gas. Pigsare .. formed,pversized egg: inserted into the new pipeline to form different tasks. The cleaning pig is made of foam rubber that seals ' made the pipe. High premure air is hooked up to the rear of the pig to. blow the dirt and debris out of the line as the pig is pulled through the . . pen-ca- Pipe- - :? '' . n . . '.7N .: Water is used to test the line. Other pis are inserted into the line toscal on the water foforceanyair out of the lines before testing, Pigs are then used to dewater the line and check the dew point inside the pipe. Before gas is put into the fine tlm dew point has fobe at a mir nus 40. In other words, there cant be any moisture left in the line. . Once the line is checked out the top soilis returned and native plants and shrubsarereseededontopofa new gas line that is capableof mitring 272 decatherfos per day to y, bending machine andbent fothe specifications noted by the en- gineers. Thepipe is then put back into position in line with the rest of trans-exa- ct "l u 17 the requires qualified welders who have to pass aweldingtest on location be-fore they ate hired. One individual was tumied away last week after driving 200 miles only to fail the test. Welders go over each weld four different times taking betweenseven to 45 minutes per pass. The stringer bead ties the two pieces of pipe to-gether.The hot pass is next and then the firing line completes the weld. to make All welds are sure they pass American Petroleum ; Institute specifications. The pipe as . well as all we)ds have to pas the tot oritis replaced. At timei crews will stop wonting on the tineasmey wait for a welder to redo a weld at a cost . Hi ?? ; -- . - & '' A A of$ia000to$154X)aWeldenKem to feel the pressure to make good welds. AH - Nfr- The pipe is then welded into approximately 3,000 foot lengths and fit into the trench. There are slopes of up to a 42 degree slope, which is ahn straight up and down. Winch tractors are anchored to equipment that is lowered over the edge to work at pulling the pieces of pipe together to be welded. Long pieces of pipe are driven into the ground on top of the hills to deadman the pipe from I down the hill once it is pieced a shrink After a weld is sleeve is melted around the weld to completely seal the two pieces of pipe together. The original pipe is sand blasted and add washed and then heated to450 degrees before a spray powder epoxy is melted onto the pipe. The shrink sleeve ties this process together around the welds. Next a Holiday Detector checks . the coating now surrounding the en--. wr ' ; T Vva , m ' Ya" Jb :- - vkJ.sjS 1 ' . v V v ed . r 'M . ' iFy -' K. . . The pipeline goes on for miles. - -- The tack rig has four welding machines. - i f i ' . ; '" t - v-- - . - y f vt1 A, A, . . 'rfs 7'h nj-.- - X v-- . . , i i . v : v i ,r . v;' rv? ,v a ! - w i11"- ; 1 - , M . ; . j '.s. Fi , The Ozzie Padder machine seperates the big rock from the dirt The; then used to fill in around the line before backfilling. ; jdirt is ' The finishing pass takes time and perfection to completely seal the joint ' . , - , ' ' ' , '. 'i . s vv iji( ; -- ' nr-i 1 t:-- : &? H' - . m ; -4 .- . .t iF, Jal v r, : f.s . M ' v. - |