Trench Breakers, Pads, and Pillows for Pipeline in Challenging Conditions

The contractor needed pipeline pads and pillows for 1,400 feet of pipeline on a 58-degree hillside in rural West Virginia in challenging weather conditions. A recent pipeline job at Dominion Resource’s extraction/fractionation plant in Pine Grove, WV presented some pretty hairy challenges.

The Dominion Transmission plant processes and stores natural gas liquids (NGLs): propane, normal butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline. They extract, fractionate, store, transport and market to various end-user markets including propane retailers, refineries, petrochemical facilities, and aerosol companies.

The first challenge was laying 1,400 feet of pipeline on a 58-degree hillside where the trucks, excavators, and other equipment had to be winched up the slope and held in place by cables attached to heavy equipment. The second challenge was the constant rain, so severe erosion of the freshly-turned earth was a major concern.