Record-Breaking 102" Tap
T.D. Williamson, Inc., of Tulsa, Oklahoma, completed the largest recorded pipeline tap recently in Las Vegas, Nevada. The work was part of a large water system improvement project for Southern Nevada Water Authority to double the output of potable water to the fastest growing city in the United States, Las Vegas.
TDW Services, Inc., (Tulsa-based subsidiary of T.D. Williamson, Inc.) won the bid to perform the taps and supply the fittings. TDW has a 50-year history of record-breaking pipeline solutions, including the deepest sub-sea tap and the largest plugging operation in a 96-inch sewage line. John Burke, master technician, with 40 years experience with TDW, was chosen to handle this record-breaking assignment. General contractor J. R. Jacks, working alongside engineering firm Corrolla-Black & Veatch, will continue through completion of the project in October 2001.
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Technician John Burke examines the pilot drill-cutter after the tap was completed.
The 11-inch thick coupon cut from the pipe is retained inside the cutter.
Note the diamond- tipped teeth around the edge of the cutter shell. Each of the two taps required about 17 hours.
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Water from Lake Mead is currently drawn to the water treatment facility through a 120-inch steel-reinforced concrete water main. TDW Services was called in to make two taps into the concrete line through two 102-inch fittings. Each tap required approximately 18 hours to accomplish and were done with the line stinn in service.. After completing each tap, the line was temporarily shut down, the tapping machine was removed, blind flanges were installed and the line was put back in service. The taps will permit a subsequent tie-in to a new 120-inch line, which will then feed the untreated water into a 180-inch steel line to the new water treatment plant that will operate alongside the existing plant.
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Technicians adjust the controls on the
tapping machine after mounting it on the fitting.
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Prior to the actual taps, tests were made in advance at TDW's Tulsa Manufacturing Plant in West Tulsa. Representatives from J. R. Jacks and Corrolla-Black & Veatch were on hand to witness the TDW 2400 Tapping Machine cut through a steel-reinforced concrete slab to simulate the actual tap.
T.D. Williamson, Inc., is the leader in piping maintenance products and services worldwide. The firm was founded in Tulsa with corporate headquarters and several manufacturing and service facilities remaining in Tulsa. The corporation, with manufacturing facilities in Belgium and England as well as 60 service and representative locations globally, is considered a single source for piping solutions.
