Pipeline construction boosts Deer Lodge area’s economy

Welders finished laying the last section of a four-mile natural gas pipeline northwest of Deer Lodge earlier this week.

For the past four weeks Gregory and Cook Construction of Houston, Texas, has had nearly 100 employees working on the pipeline, and their presence has given the local economy a shot in the arm.

Story by Pat Hansen for The Montana Standard

http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2004/09/06/featuresbusiness/hjjfjajejbgdia.txt

The crews come to town in stages. Working six 10-hour days a week, the first crew opened the

75-foot-wide right of way so equipment could access the pipeline trench, which was dug by a second crew. After six days on the job, the welders completed their work last Monday, and pipe layers started laying the pipe into the 58-inch-deep trench. All of the pipe was to be underground by Friday, then reclamation crews went to work to restore the land to its original appearance.

At any given time, 50 to 60 workers, several with their families, have been staying at local motels and campgrounds and eating in Deer Lodge restaurants.

"We work during the week and see the sights on weekends," says welding supervisor Phil Chapman of Texarkana, Ark., who is here with his wife. Chapman says he’s looking forward to returning in the future to do some hunting.

The workers have made an impression in town as being a nice group of people, and their presence is a boon to local businesses just as the tourist season is winding down.

Fred and Lou Witt, managers of Indian Creek Campground, where many of the workers and some of their families are staying, said, "We’ve had a park full and it’s been really good to have this many at this time of the year.

Ron Scharf has a number of workers staying at his motel, Scharf’s Motor Inn, where he added refrigerators and microwaves to the rooms for their convenience.

"Many are eating at both the restaurant and the Broken Arrow, and I haven’t had to cut back on my help because of their presence," Scharf said.

The construction company is purchasing fuel and other supplies locally as well, and Todd Fickler of Fickler Oil Co. says, "It’s a shot in the arm for us. We depend on some type of construction each year, because it helps us stay in business."

According to Jim Keane of Operating Engineers Local Union 400 in Butte, the contract calls for half of the workers to be from Montana, while other workers come from across the country.

"This type of work takes specialized skills, and we have some very good workers, including 15 laborers, welders and fitters from the Butte-Deer Lodge area," said project superintendent Doyle Maggard of Dallas, Texas.

Gregory and Cook Construction has done a lot of work for the former Montana Power Company and now NorthWestern Energy. The company does jobs of all sizes throughout the United States and Canada as well as in several other countries.

Jay Waterman, director of gas transmission and storage for NorthWestern Energy, says the company is constructing the four-mile "loop" to add reliability and capacity to better serve customers in the Missoula and Five Valley area. The $2 million Rock Creek project is being done simultaneously with another pipeline construction project from East Glacier to Kalispell that will benefit customers in the Flathead area.

The main north-south line from Cutbank to Butte was built in 1956 and rebuilt in 1983, and runs south of Deer Lodge. The 16-inch diameter steel high-pressure pipeline currently under construction is on the lateral that feeds Missoula and will tie into the original 12-inch line.

As natural gas (in vapor form) leaves the compressor station, located two miles north of Deer Lodge, it flows at 700 pounds per square inch through the pipeline. As it travels downstream it loses pressure due to friction.

The construction of "loops" splits the gas into two pipes, reducing the friction and thus providing more pressure downstream, resulting in a substantial increase in the capacity of a pipeline.

"It is interesting how we can adjust capacity by adding a loop instead of building 72 miles of new line," Waterman said. "In 1996, a similar loop from Bearmouth to Missoula was built to supply a growing population in the area. We will continue building these short loops to follow the population growth in Missoula and other towns."

When the pipeline is completed it will be tested. Then the NorthWestern Energy gas maintenance crew based in Deer Lodge, and supervised by Dan Pfeifer, will complete the tie-in to the 12-inch line. It is expected to be in full service by October.

In addition to maintaining the pipeline in the local area, the Deer Lodge crew is responsible for 2,200 miles of gas pipeline in western Montana.

Safety and longevity of the pipeline is a top priority. To that end, every safety precaution is taken. The 60-foot-lengths of quarter-inch thick steel pipe are 16 inches in diameter and coated with a fusion-bonded epoxy rust protectant.

The pipe is bent on-site to conform to the trench. Every weld is made in four stages, then inspected and x-rayed to assure its quality and sealed with a shrink sleeve.

Federal guidelines require

30 inches of soil cover, but NorthWestern Energy prefers a minimum of 42 inches for extra protection.

Before the pipe is laid, a crew checks and repairs any nicks in the epoxy coating and places sandbags every 10 feet in the bottom of the 58-inch-deep trench. The pipe is lowered onto the sandbags, then a padding machine sifts dirt beneath and over the pipe so no rocks ever touch it. Special care was taken where the pipeline crossed a creek to assure environmental protections for water quality.

When people turn on their stove or furnace, they may not think about the people who make it possible for natural gas to reach their house, but Deer Lodge has been favorably impacted by the construction crews as well as the maintenance workers who live and work here year-round.

Pat Hansen of Avon is a free-lance writer and frequent contributor to The Standard. She may be reached via e-mail at [email protected].