Three Cat 583K pipelayers place 160 feet of pipe.
The winch is also used to help the three pipelayers move back up the slope
to pick up the next section of pipe. It's a long way to the bottom of that
slope.
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Sometimes a winch is considered a useful attachment—handy for getting out of the mud, or rescuing another stuck vehicle. But other times it is absolutely critical to the project at hand. Without the winch, the job just can't be done. Construction on steep slopes is one of those challenging tasks that really demonstrates the value of the winch.
In August, Territory Manager Allen Johnson traveled to central Pennsylvania to visit a pipelaying project run by Associated Pipe Line Contractors, based in Houston, Texas, under the local supervision of John Freeman. Associated was placing 17 miles of 36-inch natural gas transmission line.
Underground pipelines are not built like roads. Where a road tends to follow the contours of the land, a pipeline tends to take the shortest path across the terrain, regardless of the natural barriers present. It's up to the pipeline contractor to find a way to get that pipeline into the ground.
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When the pipeline runs across a mountain, things get a bit more difficult. And central Pennsylvania is mostly one mountain range after another. As a result, Associated had a challenge on its hands.
To lay pipe on the steep slopes, running up to 50 percent, Associated's foreman, Jeff Fox, used three Cat 583K pipelayers connected front-to-back by 1 1/4-inch cable. Ahead of the pipelayers, Jeff had two or three Cat D8R dozers connected to the lead pipelayer, using Allied W8L winch with 1 1/4-inch cable.
The dozers ahead provided the security to hold the pipelayers in place while working on the steep slope. The Allied winch was used to help position the pipelayers precisely, for placing the pipe in the exact location required. The Allied winch also helped get the entire group of pipelayers moving back up the slope to collect another section of pipe from the pipe storage area.
A similar technique was used to position excavators down these
slopes to excavate the pipeline trench. This is often termed "yo-yo"
operation. Without a winch, it's hard to imagine how this work could have been
done.
Everybody on the job readily concedes that these conditions are difficult and
quite dangerous. What's impressive is that tons of heavy equipment are literally
hanging by "a thread," the winch cable on the Allied W8L winch. This
is no place for using anything less than the best winch around.
Oil and gas work is very active right now. The Allied winch will help you be a more competitive player.
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