Oil/Gas Pipelines
Hidden Beneath the Bed
Undocumented Obstacles Below Railroad Tracks Complicate Ramming Job
Consumers Energy Modernizes System with Saginaw Trail Pipeline
In Michigan, Consumers Energy is modernizing its natural gas system to improve safety and reliability, and a key element is replacing 78 miles of transmission pipeline that passes through three Michigan counties.
How to Select the Right Trench Protection System
How a utility contractor chooses to excavate on a job site can make all the difference in the project outcome. When you consider that 30 to 40 percent of all excavations lack the appropriate protective solutions, it should come as no surprise that projects are often over budget and overdue. When you add the very real risk of injury or death, a lack of proper protection makes no sense at all.
Rock, Weather, Tight Deadlines are No Match for Horizon Pipeline
Pipeline construction projects across America have flurried in recent years, with miles of natural gas line being added almost daily. The bulk of new lines is being constructed in the prolific Permian Basin, with midstream energy companies, like Targa Resources Corporation, expanding to support growing demand for natural gas and liquified natural gas (LNG) exports.
New INGAA Report Highlights Importance of Natural Gas to a Lower-Carbon Economy
Natural gas will remain a significant contributor to the energy portfolio and to economic growth in the United States over the next two decades, playing a key role in meeting low-carbon goals, a new study commissioned by the INGAA Foundation finds.
National Safe Digging Month Highlights Importance of Calling 811
(UC) - As the calendar turns to April and spring temperatures arrive, home improvement and construction work steadily increases. Since these projects often require digging and excavation, it is appropriate that April is designated as National Safe Digging Month. This nationwide public safety initiat..
Michigan Governor Halts Great Lakes Oil Pipeline Tunnel
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered state departments and agencies to take no further action on legislation enacted in late 2018 authorizing construction of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath lakes Huron and Michigan.
Texas Pipeline Contractor Expands with Horizontal Directional Drilling
Scott Andrews of S & J Contractors has seen boom and bust years over three decades in the industry and believes having the right team of people is the best way to survive those peaks and valleys.
Gas Distribution Replacement Work Continues Strong Pace
As recently as 2017, the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) estimated 30,000 miles of cast-iron pipe still carried gas in the United States, with the highest percentage of these mains located in older eastern cities such as New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
First Look: Utilizing Inertial Navigation Technology for 3D Mapping, Locating, Management
Over the last two decades, significant advances have been made in the quality and application of inertial navigation technology targeted at mapping underground pipe and duct assets. This article provides information on pipeline technologies that are available to map a minimum internal diameter (ID) of 1.6-inch to larger sizes. The pipeline mapping system offers a range of solutions that can map any pipe, regardless of its material, depth or type of utility.
Call or Click for Safe Digging
Calling 811 before any digging begins starts the process of identifying and marking buried utility lines in the United States and preventing the damage, service disruption, injuries, potential fines and costly repairs that result from unintentionally hitting them.
NASSCO Tech Tips Pipe Plug Safety
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NASSCO Standard Bearers: Brad Dutruch
EDITOR’S NOTE: NASSCO just completed its 43nd year and continues to set standards for the assessment and rehabilitation of underground infrastructure. As the association experiences remarkable growth, this series profiles those who have made significant contributions, and impacted the continued ac..
LAN to Design Major East Texas Utility Project
The City of Tyler, Texas, selected civil engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN) to design improvements to two of its major sanitary sewer basins. The East Texas city’s wastewater collection system includes more than 690 miles of sewer mains ranging in sizes from 6-inches to 54-inch..
Nearly 36 Miles of Pipeline Replaced after Mass. Gas Explosions
BOSTON — The utility company involved in last month’s explosions and fires in Massachusetts said it has replaced nearly 36 miles of main pipeline in the area. NiSource subsidiary Columbia Gas said it’s 80% through work replacing 45 miles of main pipeline, and about halfway through its work replacin..
Aqua America to Acquire Peoples in Merger of Water, Gas Utilities
Water and wastewater utility Aqua America said it agreed to acquire natural gas utility operator Peoples in a $4.2 billion deal to create a company that is “uniquely positioned to have a powerful impact on improving the nation’s infrastructure reliability.” The combined company would have $10.8 bil..
NASSCO Standard Bearers: Steve Mortensen, P.E.
EDITOR’S NOTE: NASSCO just completed its 42nd year and continues to set standards for the assessment and rehabilitation of underground infrastructure. As the association experiences remarkable growth, this series profiles those who have made significant contributions, and impacted the continued ac..
2018 Drilling Fluids Guide
BENTONITE Baroid Industrial Drilling Products, (281) 871-4613, baroididp.com Aquagel: Premium grade Wyoming sodium bentonite used as viscosifier and filtrate reducer in freshwater drilling fluids. Meets the requirements of API Specification 13A, Section 9. NSF/ANSI Standard 60 certified. Bore-Gel..
Vermeer Introduces MUD Hub Slurry Solidification System
The new Vermeer MUD Hub slurry solidification system helps control the costs, time and complexity of drilling fluid management. Using the Vermeer ST2000 slat tank and the Surface to Surface (STS) FL-243 solidification mixer, MUD Hub helps create stackable material for convenient transfer and disposa..
Perma-Liner Launches High-Performance Vinyl Ester for CIPP Repairs
Perma-Liner Industries, LLC, a leading manufacturer and supplier of trenchless pipeline rehabilitation equipment and materials for North America, introduced a new, high-performance epoxy vinyl ester resin. This vinyl ester product is Bisphenol-A Epoxy-based resin dissolved in styrene. The new resin..
The Role of Smart Gas in the Smart City
The “Smart City” movement has emerged as the dominant trend in the utility industry, as cities and municipalities seek to create smarter infrastructure and improve the lives of the citizens they serve. These cities now look to Big Data and the Internet of Things to create a more connected future, dr..
Broken Pipe Disrupts Water Service in Southern Illinois
BENTON, Ill. (AP) — A broken water main in southern Illinois has left several cities short of water, forcing the closing of schools and businesses. Officials say a breach in a 36-inch water distribution line at the Rend Lake Conservancy water plant near Benton is the reason for the loss of water se..
NASSCO Standard Bearer: Ed Kampbell, P.E.
I’m a product of Little Rock, Ark. Even though the year was 1971 when I graduated from Little Rock Central High School, there was still some residual turmoil from when the school became integrated in 1957. After Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus surrounded the school with National Guard troops to preve..
Contractors Sued After Raw Sewage Floods Maine Home
FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) – A Maine man is suing his town and two contractors after he was forced to leave his home when it became flooded with raw sewage. The Kennebec Journal reports Joseph Pinkham is seeking more than $500,000 in damages in his lawsuit filed last month against Farmington, Bruce A. ..
Water Pressure Problem Resolved at Philadelphia's Airport
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Water pressure has been restored at the Philadelphia International Airport following a water main break that prevented passengers from flushing toilets, washing their hands in bathroom sinks or drinking from water fountains. The airport says the Philadelphia Water Department has..
CUIRE Study Finds CIPP Reports Non-Conclusive
Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington’s Center for Underground Infrastructure Research and Education and the Institute for Underground Infrastructure in Germany have completed a four-month study on the review of published literature pertaining to chemical emissions of styrene-based res..
Utility Says Retired Underwater Electric Cables May be Damaged
MACKINAW CITY, Mich. (AP) — A suspected anchor strike that severed two electric cables in the waterway linking Lakes Huron and Michigan may have damaged additional cables in the area that were taken out of service long ago but never removed from the water, officials said Thursday. A remotely operat..
Contractors Recognized for Work on Sewer, Stormwater Projects
David Mancini & Sons, Inc. and Yerba Buena Engineering & Construction, Inc. have received Gordian’s 2017 Harry H. Mellon Award of Excellence in Job Order Contracting for their work on a storm water drainage project in Miami, Fla. and a sewer rehabilitation project in San Mateo, Calif., respectively...
Mississippi Delta City's 2-Year-Old Sewer Line Fails
GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi delta city is being asked to declare a state of emergency after a sewer line has separated. The Greenwood Commonwealth reports that a 24-inch (61-centimeter) underground sewer line has separated in Greenwood, causing a section of road between the city’s w..
California Town, Water District Fined for Sewer Spills Into Bay
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the city of Oakland and a water district are being fined $350,000 for allegedly allowing sewage water to flow into the San Francisco Bay. The EPA says in a statement Tuesday that Oakland will have to pay more than $220,000 in ..
