History

A bright future in the Pipeliner

In 2011, The Australian Pipeliner is more committed than ever to capturing the challenges and successes of Australia's pipeliners and sharing those stories with the rest of the industry. We travel through regional, remote and metropolitan Australia meeting the men and women who dedicate their careers to bringing energy and water to Australian communities safely and efficiently - speaking with them about their latest projects, products and services.
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Jim Kwiatkowski

Veteran pipe welder Jim Kwiatkowski talks to Barry Wood about the challenges, changes and colourful characters he's seen throughout a 40-year career.
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The Moonie Oil Pipeline -1963

This is the first in an ongoing series of articles which will look at the history of the pipeline industry in Australia, which now stretches over more than 40 years.
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Gerald Minson

Gerald graduated from Melbourne University in 1965, the same year that gas was discovered in Bass Strait.
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Building the WAG Oil Pipeline

The WAG Oil Pipeline is an interconnect oil pipeline transporting Gippsland crude oil between the Esso/BHP crude oil storage facility at Westernport to refineries at Altona and Geelong. Completed in 1972, the development of the pipeline involved challenges during both the planning and construction phases.
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Pipeline terrorism 2005?

The excerpt below is taken from a paper given at the 1985 APIA Conference in Sydney by Frank Douglas, titled "˜Australia's Pipelines & Installations in Time of Conflict, Terrorism or War'.
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Pipelining in South Australia – Where it all started: The Moomba-Adelaide Pipeline

As the pipeline industry gathers in Adelaide for the Australian Pipeline Industry Association Convention, it is fitting that our look at the history of pipeline construction in Australia moves to the story of oil and gas pipelining in South Australia, which starts with the construction of the 782 km 22 inch natural gas pipeline from the Moomba gas fields in north east South Australia to Adelaide.
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Roger Woodman


Roger Woodman is certainly one of the legends of the Australian pipeline industry having worked in many construction roles. The Australian Pipeliner sat down with Roger at the 2005 APIA Convention, where Roger told us about his pipeline life in Australia.

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Garry O’Meally

For more than 45 years, Garry O'Meally has been a familiar face to those involved in the pipeline industry in Australia.
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Building Victoria’s pipeline system

Victoria's pipeline system has grown substantially since the discovery of gas in the Gippsland Basin in the 1960s. Here, The Australian Pipeliner revisits a period of significant growth and development for Victoria's pipeline industry.
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Keith Fitzgerald

Keith Fitzgerald has enjoyed a long and enduring career in the Australian pipeline industry. Today, in his mid 70s, he continues to play an important part in representing some of the world's leading equipment manufacturers.

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Water pipeline from Perth to Kalgoorlie: 1894 -1903

In this day and age of water shortages, requiring new water pipelines, it is extremely interesting to look back to the end of the nineteenth century and examine how C. Y. O'Connor's ambitious Coolgardie Water Scheme overcame the political and engineering hurdles involved.
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Jeff Shepherd

Jeff Shepherd is truly one of the legends of the Australian Pipeline Industry. Arguably the best pipeline construction manager Australia has produced. A colourful character, Jeff worked tirelessly introducing and implementing new ideas to increase production whilst retaining the loyalty and respect of his men.
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Worker on the line: Mike Duffy

More than two decades after working on his first pipeline project, the Roma to Gladstone pipeline, KT Pipelines Sideboom Operator Mike Duffy's passion for working in the pipeline industry remains unchanged.
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Max Kimber

Max Kimber has had a long and varied career, and is still playing a key role in the Australian pipeline industry after more than 30 years.
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Recollections of an IPLOCA President

The Australian Pipeliner recently met with AJ Lucas executive director Andy Lukas to discuss his term as president of IPLOCA. In this interview Andy talks about the challenges IPLOCA faces for the future, how the Australian pipeline industry is viewed on the world stage and future trends of the international pipeline industry.
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Ian Haddow

When we asked Ian Haddow to tell us about his career in the pipeline industry, Ian started by saying "I had an Uncle who told me that where you end up in life is often by accident". So here's the story of how Ian ended up where he is today.
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The Moomba to Sydney Ethane Pipeline

Constructed in the mid-1990s, the Moomba to Sydney Ethane Pipeline provides a natural Australian resource to Qenos' petrochemical facility, located in Port Botany, New South Wales. The following is an edited version of an article that appeared in the July 1996 edition of The Australian Pipeliner. Project Manager Norm Bakker described the construction of the Moomba to Sydney Ethane Pipeline.
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Legends of the pipeline industry: Bruce Andrews

Bruce Andrews grew up in Bairnsdale, he later graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from Swinburne University in Melbourne. Bruce initially worked for Caterpillar in the early 1960s and then went on to join Gas & Fuel Corporation Industrial Sales. Bruce tells of his time in the industry.
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Vale Tom Hoffman

Tom Hoffman was born in Marrickville, New South Wales, on 16 April 1919. He started work as a youth during the depression in November 1933. Tom joined the army at the end of 1939 and served in the Western Desert and Syria with the Sixth Division. Returning to Australia in 1942 he transferred to the RAAF, served out the rest of the Second World War in England and was demobilised in February 1946.
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Building the Dampier to Perth Pipeline

The Dampier to Perth Pipeline (known today as the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline) was built by the State Energy Commission of Western Australia (SECWA). The project planning commenced early 1979 with the selection of a route and construction was completed in 1984.
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Joe Ashton

Joe Ashton was born in London in 1937 and educated at an English public school, Beaumont College, before completing his national service. In 1965 he joined Wailes Dove Bitumastic, a firm that made coal tar enamel at a coating plant in Hebburn, north of Newcastle in England.
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