Challenges of Welding Short-Run Pipelines Welding short-run pipelines can be challenging, particularly in the areas surrounding the Snake River in southern Idaho. The plains of the high desert are sometimes only a few hundred feet from the river, but moving the water that short distance is problematic. One of these challenges is where water from the river must be pumped up over the high, steep walls of the river bed to the fields on the plains above. Short run pipelines, typically 24 to 48 in. in diameter, are welded to carry this water. The length of the pipeline can range from only a few hundred feet up to 15 miles long — Fig. 1. Due to the trials presented by the terrain and the limited access to, and on, the right of way, the standard solution of stringing the pipe along the route and having a traveling “firing line” performing the welding of each joint is rarely successful. The Company Clearwater Contracting (CWC) is a mechanical contractor based in the high desert of Nampa, Idaho, and it is regularly presented with these short run pipeline challenges. The company was founded by William H. “Bill” Prather in An Idaho contractor uses a combination of welding process, equipment, and mechanization to weld pipeline more efficiently 44 WELDING JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 2016 BY FRANK J. NELSON AND WILLIAM H. PRATHER Fig. 1 — A typical shortrun pipeline can range from a few hundred feet to 15 miles long.
Welding Journal | November 2016
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