another gas line hit

[PAYTON]

on 10-19-04 we hit a high pressure 6 inch main pulling back with a directional bore machine. pulling a 10 inch reamer we could have dead pulled past the main. or we could have moved the bore a foot to the right. by pulling 3 rods back and running it at a 2 o clock postion. the locator-operator decided to runn near the located main. with out visually inspecting the location of the gas main. luckly no one was hurt and nothing more then the main was destoryed. this could have been a costly mistake.. that was only caused by opearator/ labor- laziness/carleessness. both individual were suspended with out pay and theres no word on either of them coming back at this point in time. both are good guys. but lazziness can kill. im glad it didnt! guys for gods sake plz take the extra 10 mins.. do the back work and make sure theres nothing ur gonna hit- we just started a huge job in monticello indiana and if this is any clue how its gonna go. i have to say that were in for a long long winter.
450,000 ft of pipe to put in plus - grinders- etc- so lets hope this taught everyone on the site a thing or 2 bout saftey.

payton

 

[RonG]

I worked for a company back in the '80's that folded because of that same thing.I was layed off at the time so it was the aces that did the deed but it was laziness that contributed to the puncture,the bucket of the excavator pushed a rock through the gas line.It was a major cross country line and we were way out in the woods.There was an Alagonquin inspecter on the job every day when I worked there.There was just not enough insurance to cover the damage.Repairing the pipe was only a drop in the bucket compared to the liability for everyones gas service being interupted and restoring service,relighting the pilots etc.Once again,there fortunately was no fire. Ron

 

[badranman]

Not a gas line but a waterline. Hope the link works.Here This happened not too far from me.

 

[digger242j]

This one just happened a few miles from me.

 

[BRL]

Here are some stories about an explosion from a couple of weeks ago that made CNN et al.

http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-9/111095625179140.xml?starledger?nnj

http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1110436409276370.xml?starledger?nnj

http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-8/111026242126260.xml?starledger?nnj

 

[norrodbh]

I chopped a residential gas line last summer. Gas Co mismarked location by 6 feet. I don't remember when I ever shutdown, and dismounted an excavator so quick.

House was in a remote spot , so no neighbors to worry about. had homeowner get his teenagers out, and close all doors and windows. Gas company was really quick to respond, and shutdown the curb valve.

Cost me a lot in time & repair of gas line. But lucky it was no worse.

 

[woberlin]

I got one last fall. I knew where it was, but not that is was buried less than 10" deep. I too got off the dozer rather quickly, and was a little shook up. Luckily here, if a line looses pressure it is equiped some sort of flow control device that shuts off the gas at the main. I did'nt know that until the gas company arrived. It's a little scary to think about lines that shallow. The homeowner could've pierced it with a pick or a shovel very easily just planting a tree or bush. Here the minimum is supposed to be 18".

 

[Dwan Hall]

Here in Juneau we do not have gas lines. There is a co. that wants to come in and run them all over town then ship the gas in by tanker. Gas may be cleaner then oil and cheeper then electricity but I along with most contractors are fighting it. We now have bottled propaine and that is good enough here. No one hare has ever dug around a gas line and they are always cutting electricity, cable, and phone lines. I can just imagen what it would be like with burried gas also.

 

[digger242j]

The homeowner could've pierced it with a pick or a shovel

I've seen that happen. The landscaper was planting a shrub and cut right into the plastic service line with his shovel.

Luckily here, if a line looses pressure it is equiped some sort of flow control device that shuts off the gas at the main.

The gas companies here have been installing those excess flow preventers for a few years. On the downside of that--Digging for an electric line, I took a bite out of a service line that hadn't been marked. (It was actually a tap for a future house that hadn't even been started yet, and it was in a place you'd never have expected it to be anyway. In this case, it was much deeper than it should've been. My electric trench was supposed to be 30", and the gas line was below the bottom of that. When the gas company showed up they spent quite a while scratching their heads trying to figure out exactly what the line was doing there. Anyway...) The only way I knew I'd hit the line was a faint whiff of gas I got. If I hadn't gotten that, we'd have covered it up still broken, because until I took a shovel and went looking, there was no indication that there was a line there.

30 years ago, before one-call systems were invented, I saw a guy who'd found a gas main. There was a set of gas company valves in an enclosure at the end of the street, and the right-of-way ran along the rear property line. It contained two lines--a 24" and a 30". They were what sombody referred to as "jet" lines--pressures in the neighborhood of 300 lbs. While digging a house foundation, the guy ripped a 2 foot long hole in the 24" line with his hilift teeth. Fortunately for him, and everybody with a half mile or so, that one was an un-used spare. The 30", just on the other side of it, was live...

:eek2

 

[digger242j]

Another one to add here in Pittsburgh

Here's the story as reported by one of our local TV stations.

It seems they were doing a bore under a 4 lane highway and hit a gas main. A gas company spokesman said on the noon news that it was an 8' plastic, low pressure main. He took the opportunity to admonish anyone considering digging anywhere, to make the one-call. He also said he didn't know whether that had been done in this case.

If you follow the link to the story, thet have a set of pics that you can view. There's a link to the pics, right at the end of the story. I watched the live coverage from the chopper as it was broadcast. Notice this--in the first pic you can clearly see the white lines, and the word "BORE" written on the pavement. Just at the top of the TV station's graphic, where it says "gas leak" you can just see the yellow paint marking the gas line location. It's more easily seen in the second pic, obviously in the curb lane. In the second pic, you'll also notice that there is a cluster of three workers in the center lane. It's harder to tell, but that's where they're cutting the pavement to make the repair. It certainly seems like they're beyond the 18" tolerance for line locates.

The 6 o'clock news covered the story again, but now they're talking about a 10" line. You gotta wonder if they missed locating the 10" altogether, or they were confused earlier when they referred to it as an 8".

I don't know how long the TV station's website will keep this particular story, and accompanying pics. I saved the pics. Copyright laws make it a no-no to post them here. (We don't want to get Steve in trouble.)

Credit is due to our member Will Gurt. He happened to pass the scene shortly after it occured, (shortly enough that public saftey personnel hadn't yet arrived to close the road). He called me and I was able to see the live coverage from the noon news.

 

[will_gurt]

I was one of the last vehicles that the law let through. The potential was here for a really bad incedent. The storm sewer was also hit. This is why a precautionary evacuation of a quarter mile was done.

 

[dayexco]

in south dakota, if the locate is over 18" off, there is zero expense to the contractor.







Cost me a lot in time & repair of gas line.