Rod Davis has been involved in major gas, oil, water and slurry pipeline projects throughout Australia, Papua New Guinea, South East Asia and Africa.

Mr Davis has been with Nacap for almost 10 years and he has been involved in delivering some of the largest and most challenging pipeline projects in Australia during this time.

A typical day in the field

For Mr Davis, a typical day in the office starts at 5 am, when “the radios and phones begin ringing”. A quick round of discussions with supervisors is followed by departure for the field, where he spends most of his day travelling to meetings (sometimes onsite) with management teams to discuss various construction, budgeting, and resource issues.

“The next 8–10 hours are spent travelling to the site and working my way through the project parameters, reviewing construction matters and making sure all the crews are fully supported with the necessary resources required to construct in a safe and timely manner.

“With more meetings and an open door policy, there is no shortage of people popping in to say hello or whine about something or someone, usually with a cold can of light beer in hand to end the day. I return to the office to close out the last of the paperwork, shut the door and walk away from the bloody radio and phone at around 8.30 pm, shower and into bed, ready to start it all over again in the morning.” Favourite pipeline moments

Mr Davis says that all projects he’s worked on have been good, and was recently involved in the completion of Origin Energy’s 205 km, 18 inch diameter Walloons Development Pipeline, located near Chinchilla in southwestern Queensland.

He has also been involved in other major projects such as the 45 km, 8 inch diameter SESA Pipeline, the 163 km, 8 inch diameter onshore component of the Tasmanian Gas Pipeline, the 370 km, 12 inch diameter North Queensland Gas Pipeline and the 200 km, 26 inch diameter Stage 4 Expansion of the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP).

“I started pipelining with Eric Newham on the WAG line in the Summer of 1971–72, working with some great people like Tom Hoffman, Bernie Newcombe, Harold Cooney, the Duke brothers, Leon Dupuy, Dave McDonald and of course, Barry Wood. Apart from a brief period in the late 1970s, I have been in the industry for 38 years with the last 29 being continuous,” Mr Davis says.

The project he remembers most fondly throughout his career is the Moomba to Sydney Gas Pipeline, which was “a 34 inch coal tar enamel coated pipe over the ditch in the early 1970s”.

It was a project where he made many lifetime friends. “We had a great time through the isolation, heat, dust and flies as well as witnessing the biggest floods recorded for years, causing Lake Eyre to fill for the first time that century. Two miles of pipe production a day and 14 hours paid with bonuses – those were the days!”

Mr Davis also remembers the “bus trip from hell” after the workforce went on strike over pay disputes in 1981.

“The company kicked everyone out of the camp. The local school bus was hired to transport us from Moomba to Adelaide – 800 km of torturous dirt roads in an old school bus with bench seats, no air conditioning and dust pouring in. I can still see the faces of people at the airport when we fell out of the bus, covered in red dust.” Role models

Mr Davis has worked with many of the pipeline industry’s leading figures, and cites former Saipem Director Claude Savini for his “terrific work ethic and attitude toward his fellow man”.

“I consider Claude Savini, the late Don Hamlyn and Ron Nicholls of Red Ru to be the true legends and icons of the Australian pipeline industry.” Enjoying the industry

With nearly 40 years of experience, Mr Davis says that there have been so many colourful characters he has met and during his time in the pipeline industry both across Australia and overseas, such as Tireless Ted on the Western Port Altona Geelong Pipeline in 1971 who “would only stop vehicles that had pretty girls as drivers and let all others go through”.

“Bernie Duke will tell you the story of the powder monkey who set up explosive charges next to his lunch box and waited for hours to blow up the crows who had eaten all his lunch the day before.

“Another guy – whose will remain anonymous – whilst in the Northern Territory on the Bonaparte Pipeline in the Amadeus Basin, went behind a giant anthill for ablutions and was confronted ‘with pants around ankles’ by a big old water buffalo. What a sight to see!

“Some things remain with you forever,” he said.