Report Volume XXI, Number 13, March 1st, 2010

INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX) – Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company is planning to replace nine existing compressor units at its natural gas compressor station #40 in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. This is being referred to as the “horsepower replacement project.”

INDUSTRY NEWS (Cleveland, OH) – Lincoln Electric is offering a day-long Pipeline Welding Productivity Seminar intended for professionals in the pipeline industry. The session will take place on Tuesday, March 16, from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at Lincoln Electric’s corporate headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.

With the growing demand in energy markets, rehabilitation of existing infrastructure and construction of new cross-country and subsea pipelines will continue to increase.The seminar will focus on this topic, as well as new solutions for overall improved safety, productivity and quality.

This one-day session will cover:

• A comprehensive overview of the pipeline market
• Solutions to common pipeline welding challenges
• Welding consumables selection
• Understanding hydrogen cracking -Automating your welding processes
• Ways to increase overall productivity
• An update on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
• Administration’s (PHMSA) latest findings

Session topics will be followed by welding demonstrations and facility tours. The Lincoln Electric Company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc welding systems, fume extraction equipment and plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment. The company holds a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. For more information, visit their Web site at www.lincolnelectric.com.

INDUSTRY NEWS (Rosebush, MI) Mears – The completion of another record breaking pipe installation, this time at Parris Island, a marine training base in Beaufort, South Carolina, marks a series of successful and lengthy crossings of Fusible PVC™ (FPVC®) pipe. Beaufort Jasper Water & Sewer Authority (BJWSA) contracted Mears Group, Inc. to horizontally directional drill two crossings, 6,400 feet of 16 inch DR 18 FPVC and 600 feet of 16 inch DR 21 FPVC under Archers Creek and Malecon Drive, respectively. Underground Solutions, Inc. (UGSI) supplied and fused the Fusible PVC™ product pipe for this project.

These installations are part of a project to divert the Parris Island wastewater flows to a BJWSA regional facility. The military base, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, trains about 17,000 recruits each year. BJWSA had previous experience with both Mears Group and UGSI during installation of 5,120 feet of 10 inch FPVC® in 2008 to deliver reuse water to the Secession Golf Course on Lady’s Island. For two years, that stood as the record breaking crossing in a single pull using thermoplastic pipe.

The first crossing of this most current project is the longest installation of Fusible PVC™ with a drilled length of 6,400 feet. Installing the crossing from Jericho Island to Little Horse Island, the Mears’ crew drilled under tidal marshland on either side of Archers Creek. Mears utilized their 500,000 lb. rig on the entry side at Jericho Island. They set up their 140,000 lb. rig at the exit side of the crossing at Little Horse Island to assist in the pre-reaming operations. Mears used a jet sub with a 9 7/8 inch bit during the pilot hole drilling. Drilling through clays, cemented sands, shells and gravel took careful steering. During pre-reaming, Mears opened the hole in three stages starting off with an 18 inch hole opener, then 26 inches, and finally 34 inches. Before attempting to install the pipeline in the drilled crossing a barrel reamer was used to swab the hole.

Because of the space restrictions and a requirement to keep traffic flowing on a busy road on the military base until the last minute, two prefabricated pipeline strings had to be fused together the day before the pullback.

Down hole pressures and pull force were monitored carefully throughout the 20 hour installation period. For this project with known conditions and confidence in the experience of the HDD contractor, UGSI allowed a maximum pulling load of 175,000 lbs on the pipe – in practice the maximum tensile load applied at the drilling rig was only 83,000 lbs.

The second crossing was across Malecon Drive, which is the main road on Parris Island. During this 600 feet crossing, soft sands were encountered during drilling. Mears, using its 140,000 lb. rig, pulled the FPVC® pipe into place within two hours. The two drilled crossings are being connected in a conventional manner with restrained MJ fittings.

Horizontal directional drilling with FPVC® has become an economical approach for installing pipelines. Fusible PVC™ has a high strength to weight ratio, limited stretch under long duration loading, and corrosion resistance. Mears and UGSI have partnered together on many projects and successfully set record breaking crossings. The installation of FPVC® on Parris Island marks yet another record in length.

INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX) – PipeLine Machinery International (PLM) President Mel Ternan is pleased to announce that Ruofei ‘Charles’ Zheng has joined the PLM team operations in China. Charles takes the new role of China Territory Manager. He will focus on maintaining and expanding PLM’s relationships with clients in China and coordinating PLM’s China operations.

Charles joins a PLM presence in the Asia Pacific region that is expanding to serve the needs of a rapidly growing pipeline construction industry. New staff and office locations are either planned or in place in Australia, Singapore, and China. The China operations will be headquartered in Beijing, near the ‘Pipeline City’ of Langfang (home to China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau).

“We look forward to having Charles directly on hand in Beijing for our major pipeline customers,” said Ternan. “PLM has enjoyed equipment supply success in China and is Caterpillar’s designated equipment supplier for China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau. By establishing PLM’s base in Beijing, we are better serving this growing market.”

The expansion of PLM’s team is designed to address the rapid and long-term growth in the China pipeline construction industry, both within the country and the rapidly increasing use of Chinese contractors for projects in other countries. As development continues, opportunities for reliable, efficient Caterpillar purpose- built and traditional equipment grows.

“Charles has been working with Caterpillar and the China market for several years,” said Scot Jenkins, PLM’s general manager – Asia Pacific. “I’m looking forward to having his expertise and relationships base to help guide our China operations. He will be working closely with our customers and with local Cat Dealers on product support, parts and service.”

PLM was established in 2005 and is the first Caterpillar dealership to focus on a particular industry on a global basis. PLM provides purpose-built and traditional construction equipment to the mainline pipeline construction industry on projects around the world. PLM works closely with pipeline owners, contractors and local Caterpillar dealers to provide solutions tailored to the unique product and service needs of this industry.

PLM’s worldwide activities are currently supported through the headquarters office in Houston, Texas, the Canadian operations headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta, the European operations headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. In 2010, an Asia Pacific regional headquarters will be established in Singapore.

INDUSTRY NEWS (Tulsa, OK) – Darby Equipment Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A. has relocated its administrative offices and manufacturing facilities. The company will remain in Tulsa. The new location provides significantly more manufacturing space and present construction will more than double administrative office space by year end. Larger overhead cranes at the new facility will increase lift capacity needed in manufacturing future product offerings.

“We’ve secured enough land surrounding the facility to accommodate expansion for the foreseeable future,” according to Bob Darby, president of Darby Equipment. “This should be our permanent home.” The company was founded in 1982 by Lee Darby and has been a supplier of pipeline construction equipment from its inception.