At $1 million a mile, construction of a natural gas pipeline through Freeborn County is the largest current construction project in North America.

Saturday, October 09, 1999

At $1 million a mile, construction of a natural gas pipeline through Freeborn County is the largest current construction project in North America.

While the mainline of the Alliance Pipeline project is already in place in this county, the entire project will extend from British Columbia to Chicago, Ill.

&uot;There’s about 900 and some miles of it,&uot; said Wesley James, a pipeline inspector with Welded Construction, which is constructing 148 miles of the line. &uot;It will probably be next year before it’s all finished.&uot;

A native of Arkansas, James is a 15-year pipeline veteran. On his tie-in crew, about 20 welders, laborers and inspectors, operators, teamsters and other crewman are now working seven days a week on the project. All are union members.

&uot;We were set up to work six 10 hour days,&uot; James said. &uot;We’re now working seven days. This probably won’t be the last Sunday this week.&uot;

Unlike the crews that construct the mainline with machine welders used to lay about a mile of pipeline each day, tie-in crews work where the robots can’t, under roads, wetlands and other &uot;hard to get&uot; places. James’ bunch is currently working just north of Hayward, connecting two ends of the mainline under a road – hence tie-in.

Welding two sections together takes about two hours, with the tie-in crew completing three welds a day.

&uot;All the welders are certified,&uot; James said. &uot;On each project, they must pass a series of tests before they can weld on the pipeline. That’s why they get paid so much.&uot;

With about 500 workers in the county, the average payroll is about $500,000, said Phil Tennis, Freeborn County ditch inspector. Tennis has worked closely with the pipeliners since construction began a couple of months ago.

Tennis said 37 affected farmers hired a law firm to negotiate a drainage contract with Alliance. Besides paying the farmers for the right of ways, the crews also replace topsoil and drainage tiles.

Cleanup crews will also leave the land in the condition it was before construction began. They even rebuild damaged roadways.

&uot;If there are any problems, we make sure everything is OK,&uot; James said, adding safety is also the primary concern.

Before any gas is pumped through the line, all welds are checked by an X-ray crew. Trial runs are also done to ensure there are no problems.

&uot;A safety man met with us,&uot; James said. &uot;We’re the No. 1 pipeline crew when it comes to safety. Welded is one of the safest contractors in the country.&uot;

While pipeliners are always on the road when they’re working, James said most enjoy the work. Through different pipelines, he’s met people all over the world.

&uot;It’s not for everyone, but I enjoy it,&uot; he said. &uot;You get to see a lot of things and meet a lot of interesting people.&uot;