Underground Construction - February 2021 - 17

out a 1,500-mile crude pipeline from the Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean via Iraq and Turkey. Its purpose was to reduce
dependence on the Canal for Mideast Oil and to bypass more
volatile areas like Egypt.
Williams Bros. built the largest all-welded line ever
constructed for gas transmission, two 55- inch, 13-mile steel
lines bringing coke oven gas into a Pennsylvania steel mill.
A unique river crossing in Philadelphia, with 13 products lines
in one trench, was completed for Gulf Oil Co.
That same year, the magazine detailed new techniques for
offshore and marine pipelining. " Magic, " the first sea-going
lay barge designed specifically for offshore work in the Gulf of
Mexico, was commissioned by Marine Gathering Co. of Houston,
in 1957. Texas Eastern Transmission established a recordbreaking cut on a 30-inch main line across the Rio Grande to
reach into Mexico's rich gas fields.
In 1958, Canada completed its 2,240-mile Trans-Canada
natural gas pipeline - the world's longest, at that time. Running
from Alberta to Montreal, through some of that nation's most
rugged terrain, the three-year project was also the toughest and
most costly system in pipeline history.
RS66831_Retro Ad.pdf
1
1/18/21
Southern
Natural Gas announced
plans for 11:00
a $110AMmillion

expansion, its largest ever. A Westcoast transmission line
brought the first gas into British Columbia and the Pacific
northwestern states.
Other work progressed, as well. In 1958, contractors
completed the first interstate ethylene pipeline, extending
from Lake Charles, La., to Orange, Texas.
By the next year, all the major pipeline companies were
listing big expansions ranging from $20-million projects to
Trans Western Pipe Line's $193-million expansion bringing
Texas and Oklahoma gas to California.
Harbert Construction (Houston) began work on a
2,600-mile system from McAllen, Texas, to Cutler, Fla.,
through snake-infested swamp lands. It would comprise
Florida's first gas line and be the longest pipeline project
under construction in the world.
Transco also completed a record with the first dual crossing
of a major river (the Hudson) using pipe as large as 24 inches.
The 4,200-foot job took less than a week, another record,
In the last year of the decade, the magazine included
photos of Williams Bros. contending with a 78-inch water
project in St. Louis and started discussing pipeline prospects
in the deep water. *

BUILDING
BETTER
INFRASTRUCTURE TOGETHER
Since 1969

CMY

In 1954, Art and Panny McElroy's dream
of McElroy Manufacturing was born. By
1969, their honest work ethic and spirit of
innovation began what would become the
most complete line of thermoplastic pipe
fusion equipment in the world.

Congratulations Underground Construction
on 75 years of promoting better solutions in
the nation's piping systems.

UCONonline.com | FEBRUARY 2021

http://www.UCONonline.com

Underground Construction - February 2021

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