January 2021 Vol. 76 No. 1
Features
Underground Construction Timeline
1946
First of Pipeliner (Underground Construction predecessor) magazine published
Melfred Borzall founded
1947
Texas Pipe Line Company and Shell Pipe Line Company to build 500-mile, $100-million crude oil line – the largest ever to be constructed with private money – from New Mexico to Oklahoma
1948
Technology advancements:
Cathodic protection systems/coatings to mitigate pipeline corrosion
Double submerged-arc welding process
Radiographic inspection of pipeline girth welds
Hydraulic-powered machinery
Pipeline Contractors Association (PLCA) founded
First all-hydraulic backhoes (invented in early 1947) were sold; became cornerstone equipment in underground pipeline construction as indispensable, multi-functional tool
1949
Charles Machine Works’ Ditch Witch Power – world’s first mechanized, service-line trencher – became commercially available, revolutionizing digging of trenches for underground pipelines and launching the compact trencher industry
Transcontinental Pipe Line Corporation to construct nation’s longest 30-inch gas pipeline, from McAllen, Texas, to New York City (1,832 miles)
Technology introduced to coat and wrap pipe up to 34 inches; install pipe from under a bridge
Pipeliner purchased by Oliver Klinger, Oildom Publishing
7,103 miles of crude oil pipeline constructed at year-end
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