Natural Gas

[78Ted13]

Hey guys. Just went to some training with a bunch of Haz Mat Techs from around the US, and we got to talking about natural gas lines. How many of you on Haz Mat teams clamp cut gas lines? If you don't clamp them, who does?

[GTRider245]

Nope. That would be the gas company. We isolate and evacuate when needed.

[hotjob]

We clamp anything from 1" and smaller. We have a clamp that has a built in grounding rod and we use a special soap to cut down on the static electricity. When the gas company arrives they clamp with theirs and our clamp is returned. Saves a lot of time especially when they are an hour out.

[footrat]

We clamp. The last one we did was a 1/2" line that had been gouged on one side by a 2x4 stake driven into the ground to support a concrete mold.

We ended up having to excavate with a shovel, a claw hammer, and bare hands to get to the line and expose enough to clamp or fold. We have a pair of modified ViseGrips with a wide clamping jaw and a bolt/wingnut to lock them in place and provide additional clamping pressure. We had to cut the line, since it was only gouged, so we could manipulate it and eventually fold it. We pinched it off initially, then folded and taped it. That typically does the trick, but this one still leaked a smidge. A conical wedge taped into the end of the folded line. Then we went back in service.