A client needed to inspect a 3,000‑ft section of 6‑in. gas pipeline that included an undocumented 4‑in. sub‑segment. The line crossed an environmentally sensitive corridor and an active railroad, making excavation and exploratory digs impractical and high‑risk. The client required a safe, nonintrusive method to confirm the reduced diameter and verify tool passage before running an inspection tool.
Paxon and a technical collaborator designed a dummy pig and a custom 6‑in. × 4‑in. caliper tool capable of navigating both diameters and 1D bends via wireline. Paxon depressurized a 300‑ft segment to 0 psi to enable a tethered inspection. Initial tow‑pig attempts could not pass the tight diameter transition. To overcome this, Paxon and the collaborator partnered with a parachute‑pig manufacturer to develop an alternative pull method. After overnight delivery, Paxon executed a staged approach:
Paxon safely identified the location of the reduced‑diameter section and delivered a complete geometry inspection and XYZ mapping of the 3,000‑ft line for integrity and GIS records. The nonintrusive method allowed the client to avoid excavation, protect the environmentally sensitive corridor and railroad crossing, and confirm the pipeline’s configuration with confidence.
Custom caliper tool design, geometry inspection, XYZ mapping, and asset documentation for pipeline integrity records.
Field oversight for depressurization, tethered tool runs, and safe execution in an environmentally sensitive corridor.
Integrity Management
Targeted cleaning, inspection, and Gas Recompression across Tennessee and Georgia including offline caliper runs on 12-in. lines and recompression on two 14-in. pipelines to eliminate atmospheric venting.
Whether you need custom inspection solutions, integrity assessments, or
nonintrusive pipeline evaluation, our team is ready to help.