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Note From The Editor |
Greetings,
This year and last, workers are waking up before dawn to get to a 54-inch pipeline project critical to 600,000 residents in the Estado Falcón (Falcon State) of Venezuela. The workers show up at 4 a.m. each day to begin work while wearing elaborate apparel and protection – hard hat, safety goggles, face and ear protection, as well as full-length jumpsuits. By 1 p.m., they move their fusion operations under shelters as 35 mph or stronger winds begin blowing desert sands throughout the region.
The full-length wardrobe is a must, despite temperatures hovering at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The oceanic humidity, in addition to the heat, turns sweaty human skin into a canvas for the blowing desert storm sands to paint itself in thick layers.
While the conditions are harsh and not ideal, the workers are part of an ambitious project by the Venezuelan government to provide a trustworthy potable water line to approximately 600,000 residents of the Peninsula de Paraguaná. Currently, an undersized and unreliable steel pipeline provides limited water resources to the peninsula. A 54-inch DR 17 high-density polyethylene pipe (HDPE) is being constructed to connect the Falcon State capital of Coro to the city of Punto Fijo, a major oil refinery center in Venezuela.
The wind is so prevalent in this region that the name of the state’s capital city – Coro – is believed to be from an indigenous word that means “wind.” That wind and the blowing sand isn’t the only challenge. The Acueducto Bolivariano de Falcon pipeline will eventually transcend the Golfete de Coro, a sea inlet that will allow the pipe to take a shortcut to the destination of Punto Fijo.
Another challenge is the amount of pipe needed. So much 54-inch pipe is required for the project that two pipe manufacturers, PolyPipe and JM Eagle, are producing the vast amount of pipe. Four fusion machines are on site, two McElroy MegaMc 2065 machines and two from another fusion machine manufacturer.
The project is high-profile. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has visited the site, understanding the importance of getting the resources to a populated and valuable area of the country. Billboards with Chávez’s likeness announce the project, and what it will mean for the people.
A devout loyalty is sprouting in Venezuela for McElroy machines. The workers that have opportunities to work on both types of fusion machines are realizing the productivity and fatigue-reducing characteristics of the MegaMc 2065. While other machines are producing an average of four joints per day, the 2065 machines are achieving an average of 10 fusions per day.
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The MegaMc 2065s allow the workers to shelter the machines in tents to keep the windblown sand out of the fusion joint. The other fusion machines on the site require a crane to lift the facer and heater plate up and then lower those pieces into the carriage to perform their functions. This eliminates the opportunity to shelter those joints from the sand as the clearance height of the crane is much taller than most tents.
The Peninsula de Paraguaná is located about 16 miles south of the island of Aruba. Much like Aruba, the Caribbean provides great opportunities for the ports and potential tourist spots of the peninsula. Before those advantages can be realized, the Acueducto Bolivariano de Falcon has to have a reliable pipeline to support useable water.
McElroy machines continue to solve infrastructure problems through productive fusion operations – even on ambitious projects in desert sandstorms.
Sincerely,
Tyler Henning
thenning@mcelroy.com
Many thanks to Dave Hughes and Rafael Quintero for contribution photography and field reports for this Editor’s Note.
P.S. – Do you have an interesting jobsite that you would like to share? McElroy is always looking for fusion websites where HDPE is being used and fused to solve an infrastructure problem. Contact Tyler Henning, public relations specialist at (918) 831-9286 or by email at thenning@mcelroy.com
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| Master's Mechanic Certification Update |
Friday, May 15th marked a milestone for the McElroy Certified Master Mechanic program as 10 technicians from Canada and the U.S. attained Master Mechanic Certification. The technicians are:
| First Name |
Last Name |
Distributor |
Facility Location |
Brian |
Corson |
Etna Supply |
Grand Rapids, MI |
Brett |
Debert |
Sandale Utilities |
Calgary, AB, Canada |
Mike |
Jackson |
ISCO Industries, LLC |
Mulberry, FL |
Jason |
Johnson |
A.H. McElroy Sales & Services (Canada) Ltd. |
Edmonton, AB, Canada |
Mike |
Kissick |
Sandale Utilities |
Edmonton, AB, Canada |
David |
Sampson |
Vari-Tech, Inc. |
Liverpool, NY |
Troy |
Taylor |
Etna Supply |
Detroit, MI |
Brian |
Waters |
Etna Supply |
Grand Rapids, MI |
Shannon |
Wolcott |
Etna Supply |
Grand Rapids, MI |
David |
Wyman |
ISCO Industries, LLC |
Salt Lake City, UT |
| This program was introduced in September 2007 during the McElroy Distributor Management Conference as a means of recognizing the service excellence of technicians and companies that maintain and repair the complete line of McElroy Fusion Equipment. To qualify, a technician must complete a rigorous maintenance and rebuild training and testing program. These individuals have spent at least 120 hours of classroom and shop time in Tulsa, Okla., training and testing. To put things in perspective, prior to these individuals attaining the Master Mechanic Certification, only 6 had reached that goal, so this graduating class marks a quantum leap in Master Mechanic availability. |
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| Distributor locations that have a Master Mechanic are acknowledged with special Master Mechanic identification on the McElroy website Distributor Locator page. |
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| Road Show Update |
The 2009 McElroy Road Show is almost over, but you still have a few opportunities to visit this well-received new product showcase at these locations. All road show stops are open to the public at 1:30 p.m. the day of the event.
Friday, May 22
9530 Fallon Ave. NE
Monticello, MN 55362
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Monday, June 1
740 S. 28th Street
Washougal, WA 98671-2597 |
Wednesday, June 3
511 Tunnel Ave.
Brisbane (San Francisco), CA 94005 |
Thursday, June 4
200 E. Larch Road
Tracy, CA 95304 |
Thursday, June 11
10831 S. 51st Street
Phoenix, AZ |
Monday, June 15
5011 W. Loop 250 North
Midland, TX |
If you would like to attend any of these road show stops, please visit www.mcelroy.com/roadshow to register online. |
| U.S. water infrastructure needs seen as urgent |
By Jim Christie, Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The crumbling U.S. infrastructure is routinely in plain sight, from potholes strewn across interstate highways built during the Eisenhower administration to rusting Depression-era bridges connecting those old highways.
At its most extreme, neglect can turn catastrophic: Experts had long expressed concern that New Orleans' aging levees could fail in the face of a major hurricane and they did dramatically in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
By contrast, the condition of the nation's water infrastructure is often hidden from view. Drinking water and efficient sewage disposal is taken for granted along with the safety of the buried pipes, but was much on the minds of several guests at this week's Reuters Infrastructure Summit.
Out of sight, water infrastructure remained largely out of mind for U.S. policymakers in the federal economic stimulus effort. The $787 billion program allotted less than $10 billion for drinking and wastewater projects.
Click here to read the entire story.
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OH divvies up stimulus funds for water |
COLUMBUS, OH — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on April 23 announced it will use $278 million in federal stimulus money for water and wastewater infrastructure projects in 74 of the state’s 88 counties, according to an April 23 Associated Press (AP) report on Forbes.com.
The state said it received 3,300 applications from cities, counties and villages seeking stimulus funds.
Projects that made the final list include upgrades to water and sewer systems, as well as about $5 million for counties to help homeowners fix or replace failing septic systems that pollute ditches and streams.
Click here to read the entire story.
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| California to Get $260 Million to Improve Water Infrastructure |
By Stu Woo, The Wall Street Journal
MATHER AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Wednesday that California will receive $260 million in economic-stimulus funds to improve its aging water infrastructure.
The nation's most-populous state will receive more than a quarter of the $1 billion that the Interior Department is investing in water systems nationwide. The funds come from the $787 billion federal-stimulus package President Barack Obama signed in February.
The announcement comes as California is facing a third straight year of drought and a double-digit unemployment rate, one of the highest in the country.
Click here to read the entire story.
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| Cities, towns get $250 million for water upgrades |
By Rick Callahan, Chicago Tribune
INDIANAPOLIS - Forty-three Indiana cities and towns will split $250 million in federal stimulus funding and state loans to upgrade their aging sewers and drinking water systems – an influx that’s expected to hold down many of the communities’ utility rate hikes.
The projects getting a mix of stimulus grants and state loans had been in the works well before Congress passed a $787 billion stimulus package favoring “shovel-ready” projects.
Jennifer Alvey, the state public finance director for the Indiana Finance Authority, said the 43 communities approved so far for stimulus grants had the “most shovel-ready” projects.
Most of the $250 million they’ll get – $193 million – will come from two existing state funds that finance low-interest loans for wastewater and drinking water upgrades.
Click here to read the entire story.
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| Georgetown, Guyana uses HDPE in pipe main fix |
Engineers from the Ministry of Public Works were yesterday completing work on the damaged culvert at the junction of Sheriff and David streets.
According to an official on the scene, high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes were installed within the damaged section of the road yesterday. He said ideally, the excess water which had spilled from the damaged metal pipe on Tuesday, should have been pumped out of the underlying base so that sand could have been compacted on the base before the pipes were laid. However, he said that the HDPE pipes are durable enough to withstand pressure from traffic traversing the busy roadway and he reasoned that work should be completed by tomorrow.
Click here to read the entire story
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E. Iowa town to get public water system |
Associated Press
QUASQUETON, Iowa - The eastern Iowa town of Quasqueton (KWAHS’-kwee-tuhn) is finally getting a public water system.
The city is one of the largest in the state without a public water system. Its residents are tapped into individual wells.
Nearly $5 million for the project is from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development.
The funds – a $2.9 million loan and a $2 million grant - will help pay for construction of 33 miles of distribution lines and two water towers to provide water to residents and businesses in Buchanan County.
Click here to read the entire story.
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| City losing three-quarters of water it treats |
Century old water lines are causing major problems in one Letcher County community.
The mayor of Jenkins says only about one quarter of the water treated in their plant makes it out to the community, but things are about to change. Last week, Governor Beshear presented $750,000 in grant money to improve the city's water system and replace old lines, lines that some say are made of wood!
Mayor Charles Dixon says many of the city's water lines are simply worn out. "Through the years, we've lost more and more water. Last month we lost 72 percent of what we produced," says Mayor Dixon.
And it's only getting worse. "You'll have cracked lines, faulty joins, some lines have probably just rusted away," says Judge Executive Jim Ward.
Click here to read the entire story.
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| Oil of the 21st Century |
Calif. governor joins marchers at water rally
By Garance Burke, Associated Press Writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged on thousands of demonstrators Friday on the final leg of a four-day march across California's agricultural basin designed to draw attention to surging unemployment caused by water shortages in the state's rural middle.
Framed by a half-empty reservoir perched above miles of dry cropland, the governor told farmers and farmworkers that he was doing all he could to bring more water to the region this growing season, a message that did little to console several Republican legislators frustrated over his handling of the water cutbacks.
"Farmworkers are losing their jobs because crops are not being planted, and in towns across our Central Valley, our unemployment is going skyrocketing," Schwarzenegger told the crowd of about 8,000. "It is not just because of the world economy being down, it is self-inflicted wounds because we can't get our act together and create a water infrastructure that is for 38 million people."
Click here to read the entire story. |
DROUGHT LINGERS: Lake sinking near 1965 level
By Henry Brean, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Another below-average year on the Colorado River will soon shrink Lake Mead to a level not seen since President Lyndon Johnson unveiled his "Great Society" and the Beatles bared their "Rubber Soul."
By next month, the surface of the lake is expected to sink below 1,100 feet above sea level for the first time since May 1965, according to the latest projections from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
And the decline won't stop there. By July, the reservoir on the Nevada-Arizona border is projected to shrink more than 13 feet from its current level of 1,105 feet above sea level.
Click here to read the entire story. |
Water main break floods San Pablo Dam Road businesses
By Karl Fischer, West County Times
A water main burst in El Sobrante on Wednesday afternoon, redistributing mud and grit in new and unexpected places along a two-block stretch of San Pablo Dam Road before utility workers cut the flow about 3 p.m.
Ten to 12 businesses used sandbags and towels to stem the tide into their storefronts, with mixed results.
Eddie Emerson, whose mother found her living room awash shortly after the deluge began at 1:30 p.m., did his best to obstruct the brown water with boards, sandbags and a garbage tote. He even removed the manhole cover out front to give the water someplace to go.
"It was pretty much like this when I got here," Emerson said, standing in calf-high water about 2:45 p.m. "My mom started yelling, and I just took off up here."
Click here to read the entire story. |
Water main fix involves HDPE
By Nancy Rineman, seacoastonline.com
SEABROOK — The crisis that resulted from one of the town's water mains being out of commission is close to an end.
The replacement project for the broken Folly Mill Road/I-95 water main is finally out to bid, and engineers from Wright-Pierce said the bids should be returned by next week. Bids for the project close May 13 at 2 p.m.
Project engineer James Hewitt of Wright-Pierce told selectmen Wednesday, May 6, that four or five contractors have picked up the specifications for the quarter-million dollar project and that once a bid is accepted, the project should take about 30 days to complete.
The cast iron pipe running under I-95 will be replaced by a 14-inch polyethylene pipe pulled through an 18-inch sleeve, Hewitt explained. There will be no bends, no joints and the town will be dealing with a pipe that is expected to last for 50 to 75 years, Hewitt said.
Click here to read the entire story. |
Tour group gets a lesson in aging city water system
By Melissa Harris, Baltimore Sun
In the coming weeks, someone will have to crawl into a 40-inch pipe where it marries a smaller pipe, which happened to burst under Lombard Street, and apply a rubber seal to prevent disaster from happening again.
For years, Baltimore officials have warned that the city's centuries-old network of water pipes is crumbling. But few seem to care - until they break. Late last month, a fracture in a 77-year-old pipe during a morning rush-hour flooded downtown streets, shutting down Baltimore's business district for a day and tangling traffic for several more.
On Saturday, city officials seized the opportunity to invite the public to view a set of similar pipes, learn how the aging system can be tweaked to provide several more decades of life, and tour one of Baltimore's water-filtration plants, which is normally closed for security.
Click here to read the entire story. |
McElroy Connections welcomes your feedback, story ideas, tips, or anything else related to PE Pipe and Pipe fusion. Please email your comments and story ideas to:
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McElroy Connections is published by McElroy Manufacturing Inc. The information contained within each issue is meant as a service to our customers, distributors, and those involved with Polyethylene Pipe applications.
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