Oil/Gas Pipelines

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 ..

SPX to Acquire CUES

SPX Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase CUES, Inc., a leading manufacturer of pipeline inspection and rehabilitation equipment headquartered in Orlando, Fla. Under the terms of the agreement, a subsidiary of SPX will be merged with CUES’ parent company, ELXSI Corporation..

Blocked Pipeline Sends Sewage Into New Hampshire Brook

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Manchester’s public works department is trying to fix a blocked sewer line that has caused sewage to leak into a brook. WMUR-TV reports that the city’s environmental protection division was notified of the problem Saturday night in a brook that flows into Stevens Pond...

Excavator Causes Puerto Rico Power Outage

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An island-wide blackout hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday after an excavator accidentally downed a transmission line, officials said, as the U.S. territory struggles to repair an increasingly unstable power grid nearly seven months after Hurricane Maria. Officials said it co..

Fears of Sewer Pipe Collapse Close 3 Blocks of Major Street

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Fears of a cave-in courtesy a possible sewer pipe collapse have closed part of a major downtown Louisville street. Metropolitan Sewer District spokeswoman Sheryl Lauder told the Courier Journal that officials sent probes into the 60-year-old, 84-inch (213-centimeter) di..

Sewer Spill Fouls Creek, Wetlands in North Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – More than 600,000 gallons of sewage and wastewater spilled into a Florida nature park, fouling a creek and wetlands. The Gainesville Sun reports that the two spills closed Loblolly Nature Park in Gainesville as crews suctioned up polluted water and fixed damaged pipes at tw..

Juniper Capital Management Acquires Sewer Rehabilitation Companies

Infrastructure Services Group (ISG), a new investment platform created by Juniper Capital Management, in partnership with ORIX Mezzanine & Private Equity and LionsWing Capital Partners LLC, has acquired Green Mountain Pipeline Services and Mr. Rehab Sewer Systems. Green Mountain and Mr. Sewer provid..

Heavy Rain Causes Sewer Overflow into Willamette River

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Portland officials say recent heavy rainfall has caused its combined sewer system to overflow into the Willamette River. The Bureau of Environmental Services says the overflows started at about 9:15 a.m. Sunday and continued into the afternoon. The agency says it doesn’t know ..

Crews Continue Removing Oil from Underwater Electric Cables

MACKINAW CITY, Mich. (AP) — Crews continue to remove coolant fluid from electric cables that sprang a leak in the Straits of Mackinac earlier this week. The U.S. Coast Guard says about 600 gallons (2,271 liters) of mineral-based synthetic oil escaped into the waterway linking Lakes Huron and Michig..

5th Day of Water Shortages in Greece’s Second-Largest City

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Large sections of the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki have been without water for a fifth day because of damage to an old pipeline. The center and northwestern parts of Greece’s second-largest city have been without water since Tuesday, when a 40-year-old pipeline th..