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 

From Archive