Patrick Joseph O’Dea, Field Superintendent and employee number three of South East Australia Gas is celebrating 50 years in the pipeline industry this year.
Pat’s first involvement with gas pipelines started in September 1968 when he worked for Snamprogetti as a contractor on the construction of the Moomba to Adelaide Pipeline System (MAPS). His job was to inspect pipe welded joints at the Terowie welding Double Jointing Yard, where 13 m lengths of pipe were welded internally and externally into 26 m pipes, for road transportation into the field.
On 7 August 1970, he joined the Natural Gas Pipelines Authority of South Australia, which later became the Pipelines Authority of South Australia (PASA) – the then owner and operator of the MAPS. PASA was privatised in 1995, which was a difficult time for the employees; however, Pat opted to remain with the MAPS, during what was jokingly called the ‘Velcro name badge period’, where ownership changed from Tenneco Gas to Tenneco Energy to El Paso Energy and ultimately to Epic Energy.
The 781 km, 22 inch (558 mm) MAPS mainline was supplying gas to the largest gas-fired power station in Australia at Torrens Island, owned at the time by the Electricity Trust of South Australia and to the distribution network of the South Australia Gas Company, along with industrial users who, at that time, directly contracted with PASA.
When the opportunity arose in 2003 to become part of the operations team of a new pipeline being constructed to bring natural gas from Victoria to Adelaide, Pat successfully applied for the role of Pipeline Superintendent on the SEA Gas pipeline system, owned by South East Australia Gas (SEA Gas), where he continues to play a key role in the maintenance of the pipeline facilities.
Pat was one of the industry pioneers in Australia, starting work as a Pipeline Operator “C” Class in the Peterborough Depot, where in the early days, with limited experience and access to only basic tools and facilities, operators in the field relied on their initiative to get things done and resilience to have another go.
There was no local history to call upon and little information to guide operators on how best to ensure gas was safely and efficiently transported. Pat was trained in the use of the highly specialised TDW hot tapping and stoppling equipment. He applied himself and with his characteristic attention to detail gained Australia-wide recognition for his expertise in the safe use of this critical equipment.
Extensive experience
Pat has worked on several pigging operations on the MAPS and liquid hydrocarbon pipeline systems, including the first intelligent pigging of the MAPS with AMF Tuboscope in the mid-1970s, which was possibly the first intelligent pigging operation in Australia. He also worked with the American company VETCO to run the first intelligent pig down the Santos owned liquid hydrocarbons line from Moomba to Port Bonython.
Intelligent pigging runs on the MAPS were also conducted by British Gas in 1986 and 1993, with the Peterborough-based supervisors and operators managing the field project.
Back when Pat started his career, the first issue of field equipment was a safety bag and a swag, as there was no accommodation along the line at that time. Later this progressed to tents and caravans, then eventually, as the compressor stations were gradually installed, more permanent accommodation became available.
Back in the swag days, Pat recalls it was like being on an outback adventure with campfires, big starry skies to gaze at and great camaraderie with the operators. The dress code in the
main was based around the temperature of the day, with all long clothing on cold days and all short clothing, such as singlets and shorts, on hot days.
There were no showers and the best options on offer to wash off the accumulated dust were under the overflow of a farmer’s water tank, to bathe in a sheep trough (always remembering to drain to remove the soap afterwards) or to fill the front bucket of the backhoe excavator with water and use that as a bath.
There was no refrigeration and fresh meat only lasted up to when the ice melted (a couple of days) and then it was tinned tucker, which was okay until the labels rubbed off and it became a lucky dip, Pat says.
Pat recalls a highlight from the early period was the joining of two lakes, Blanche and Callabona, after a significant rain event in 1974.
“In order to maintain fuel supply to the generators of the communication repeater stations, we had to row a dinghy across the fast flowing wide creek to set up a two point pulling system with a vehicle either side tied to the dinghy,” he says.
“In this way 200 L drums of diesel could be floated and pulled from side to side – a major achievement to maintain communications between Moomba and Adelaide.”
More recently, as part of the maintenance and project team at SEA Gas, Pat has worked on some interesting and in some cases novel projects on the SEA Gas owned pipelines, including a major pipeline cleaning pigging program, intelligent pigging programs, water-bath heater tuning and management, major plant shutdowns for valve and compressor station maintenance and deep excavation work, all without interruption to gas supply.
Looking to the future
Pat has not only worked hands on supervising critical pipeline activities (including pipeline construction, CP anode bed installations, hot tap and stoppling throughout Australia, excavation for stress corrosion crack cracking, pipeline repairs, pipeline coatings etc), he has also had substantial input into the development of safe work procedures for these activities over many years. He is the first to acknowledge the pipeline industry has come a long way since the formative days.
He was asked about the romanticism attached to self-reliance and the need to be able to make many more decisions on the run than is permitted nowadays, with work governed by policies and procedures and far greater regulation.
“I have seen a lot of changes in the industry over the past fifty years, a lot for the better but in some cases certainly overcooked to the point that much decision-making or allowing people to think for themselves has been taken away,” says Pat.
“Back in the 1970s, work processes would be carried by the work group with discussion on how to do the work (but no written procedure), with the repetitive work being undertaken on memory alone. From the late seventies standard operating procedures were developed by the supervisors and field personnel to document work processes so that technicians had a consistent pattern to follow.
“Certainly, a change for the better has been the formalised approach to using tools such as risk assessments and safe work management systems and the wearing of full PPE has come a long way to protect people on the job.
“The highlight for me over the 50 years in the industry has been the people that I have worked with; contractors and company employees, as well as the variation of the work (construction, maintenance and projects) and the chance to travel. I have worked with and admired good project managers who all became friends over the years, including Geoff Balmer, Ed De Prinse, Nathan Smaistrla and Damian Penneck, as well as all of the dedicated Maintenance Team personnel from both Epic Energy and APA Group.
“The other highlight is having had the opportunity to work on the earlier operating system of the MAPS (which was new when I started) and then working on the high-tech operating system of the SEA Gas pipeline and being part of the original team to set this pipeline up for operations.
“I have to make special mention of the wives, girlfriends and children of the gas pipeline personnel who work remotely. Without the home support it would be impossible for the gas industry personnel to continue to maintain pipelines at remote facilities.
“There have been so many highlights throughout my career in the industry it is overwhelming to try and get just a small portion down for this article.”
This article was featured in the October 2020 edition of The Australian Pipeliner. To view the magazine on your PC, Mac, tablet or mobile device, click here.
For more information visit the SEA Gas website.
If you have news you would like featured in The Australian Pipeliner contact Managing Editor David Convery at dconvery@gs-press.com.au