It is expected that the furnace will kick on when the weather gets cold and the water will be hot when we wash our hands, but few of us stop to think much about the natural gas supply to our homes that makes this possible. If you live near the site of the REX-EAST pipeline project, perhaps you have had occasion lately to ask what is going on and who is involved.
A joint development of three major energy companies, the Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) is a 1,679 mile-long pipeline stretching from Rio Blanco County Colorado to Monroe County Ohio. Completed in 2009, the 42” diameter pipeline carries between 1.5 and 2.0 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Along the way are seven compressor stations, thirteen meter stations and 20 various interconnect sites.
Bodine Services of Decatur and Bodine Environmental Services provided project support in a number of ways at a number of locations across Illinois. Bodine provided high pressure water pumps to pressurize compressor station manifolds while leak testing was conducted. Several of Bodine’s 21,000-gallon frac tanks were staged for temporary water storage to support the pressure testing and dust control operations around the compressor station construction site.
At multiple locations along the project route, Bodine provided support services to drilling companies who were contracted to bring the pipeline under rivers, roads and streams. At times, parts of the project hinged on the need to transport and dispose of tens of thousands of gallons of driller’s mud in a tight time frame. Bodine orchestrated up to eleven vacuum tankers in a single mobilization to complete this task. In addition, thousands of gallons of water were required on a daily basis to keep the drilling rig operational. Bodine transported the water from area sources.
Bodine Vice-Presidents Bob Bryson and Bud Brozio along with Sales Manager Danny Chumbley all expressed that part of what keeps their jobs exciting is the variety of different projects that Bodine has an opportunity to become involved with. Large pipeline projects running through your backyard don’t come about very often, but Bodine is proud to have had the opportunity to work on this job that ultimately will assure a reliable supply of natural gas to thousands if not millions of households and businesses in the future.
