Joe completed his first big pipe coating job in England. “I then spent three years in Japan with Wailes Dove supporting our agents and I then came to Sydney, where I became involved with the Australian pipeline industry,” Joe said.

“In 1975 I joined Carter Johnson of Australian Pipeline Construction (APC) as their cost and claims engineer on the Moomba to Sydney Pipeline project. The position involved liaising with the Chief Inspectors, Shortie Cunningham and Ron Black, in the preparation of the fortnightly progress claims.

“We had several superintendents: ‘Blow Joe’ Funkhouser, Rex Snead, Ted Jestin, Jim Reaman, then Jeff Shepherd and Bob Morrison. I believe I was about the only one from the main office, apart from John Brennan who was based in our Sydney office, to be on that project throughout the whole construction.

“On completion of my stint with APC I decided to ‘jump the fence’ and go onto the inspection side of the industry. SGS hired me for an inspection position in New Zealand at the Shell BP Todd gas plant South of New Plymouth. It was there that I met and married my second wife.

“In 1976 I joined Penspen in London and I was sent to Holland and Iran as a coating inspector on various projects. In 1978 I joined WILMEG in Tehran as their Superintendent on the Northern spread of the IGAT 2 gas pipeline project. I was based at a town called Hastpar which was some 80 km south of the Russian-Iranian border.

“In 1979 things got pretty tense with the build up of the revolution and when my Range Rover was torched and the Coca Cola plant burnt down we decided to leave the place. We did a midnight run by boat from Bandar Palavi to Baku in Russia [now Azerbaijan], up to Moscow and back to London.”

After a brief stint in London, Joe worked in the United Arab Emirates and returned to New Zealand in the early 1980s, working with Humes Spriral Welded Pipes.

“After about six months in a completely new venture in New Zealand, Ron Black invited me to look after the weed section of the Wallumbilla to Gladstone pipeline. I jumped at the opportunity and headed to Gladstone on the next available flight.

“Following the completion of the weed section I looked after the Gladstone City Main for which A J Lucas was the contractor. It was there that I first met Kevin Lester.

“The Kutubu Project followed and I was based in Port Moresby where Graeme McAinch had set up the Project Office. I moved to the Kopi facility when the main camp was established and where Shaw Pipe Protection had established a pipe coating plant. In the team at Kopi we had, amongst others, Ron Black, Ray Capozzi, Mike Hennessey, Noel Edgar.”

Joe has been involved in many pipeline projects in Australia, apart from those mentioned above. He worked with Cherrington on horizontal directional drilling and:

* On the original Dampier to Perth pipeline as Chief Coating Inspector based at the GPIP coating plant in Geraldton. * The NT Gas Pipeline from Alice Springs to Darwin. Initially on the Northern spread with Ron Black, Keith Potter, Mike Hennessey, Noel Edgar and Dave Taylor to name a few. * The Tasmanian pipeline project for Duke Energy on the section constructed by Nacap. * The Esperance pipeline for Delco for which he initially was stationed at the Bredero Shaw pipe coating facility in Dapto followed by stockpiling the pipe in Western Australia. * The North Queensland Gas Pipeline from Moranbah to Townsville which was constructed by Nacap in an alliance with Enertrade, Thiess and GHD. * Stage 4 of the DBNGP looping in Western Australia. * Stage 5A of the DBNGP looping for which he was looking after linepipe receipt, stockpiling and load out for Saipem.

Joe said that he has thoroughly enjoyed his work in the Australian pipeline industry. “I have met some fantastic people who I call real friends. There has not been one company I have not enjoyed working with and I like to think the door is always open with all the companies I have worked for.”

Joe’s final comments were “This is a fantastic industry and I only wish I was twenty years younger. My son James is working with A J Lucas on the horizontal direction drilling side of their operations. Like me, he sees many opportunities within the industry and has already worked in India, China and Thailand. I guess he is following my footsteps.”

We knew that the interview could not be complete without asking about Joe’s signature red socks. Joe answered, “On the Moomba to Sydney Project the good ladies in the camp laundry used to mix the socks up, so on my first leave break I purchased six pairs of bright red socks. I have been wearing the same colour ever since, for all occasions!”