MECANIQUE - Construction Practice Onshore Steel

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PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

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CONSTRUCTION PRACTICE
STEEL PIPELINES
5.1 STEEL PIPELINES ........................................................................................................ 138

5.1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................. 138
5.1.2 Transport and Care of Materials ............................................................................. 139
5.1.3 Preparing the Right of Way .................................................................................... 140
5.1.4 Pipe Stringing and Cold Field Bending .................................................................. 141
5.1.5 Handling Damage ................................................................................................... 143
5.1.5.1 Ovality................................................................................................................. 143
5.1.5.2 Buckles................................................................................................................ 143
5.1.5.3 Dents ................................................................................................................... 143
5.1.5.4 Gouges ................................................................................................................ 144
5.1.5.5 Laminations, End Bevel Damage........................................................................ 144
5.1.6 End caps .................................................................................................................. 144
5.1.7 Site Welding............................................................................................................ 144
5.1.7.1 Site Welding Processes ....................................................................................... 145
5.1.7.2 Future Developments ......................................................................................... 163
5.1.8 Construction Spread Technique .............................................................................. 167
5.1.9 Inspection ................................................................................................................ 172
5.1.9.1 Defect Acceptance Standards.............................................................................. 172
5.1.9.2 Defect Types ...................................................................................................... 174
5.1.9.3 Visual Inspection................................................................................................. 179
5.1.9.4 Radiography........................................................................................................ 180
5.1.9.5 Ultrasonic Examination...................................................................................... 184
5.1.9.6 Magnetic Particle Inspection.............................................................................. 186
5.1.11 Coating and Wrapping ............................................................................................ 186
5.1.12 Special Situations - Tunnelling, Thrust Boring, Directional Drilling, Crossings, Tie-
ins, Pig traps............................................................................................................ 187
5.1.13 Trenching ................................................................................................................ 188
5.1.14 Lowering in ............................................................................................................. 189
5.1.15 Backfilling and Reinstatment.................................................................................. 189
5.2 REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 190
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5.1 STEEL PIPELINES
5.1.1 Introduction
The main considerations for the construction phase of a steel pipeline are:
• construction activities should be carried out to ensure the safety of the public,
construction and operating personnel, adjacent property, and the pipeline and
associated equipment.
• care should be taken to prevent damage to the environment and, on completion of

construction, restoration should be carried out to return the area to its pre-
construction state and to prevent any long-term deterioration.
• construction personnel should be competent, and qualified for the tasks which they
are undertaking.
• all construction work should be inspected by competent inspectors to ensure

compliance with the engineering design.
• construction methods should ensure that the stresses placed on the pipeline do not
exceed the design stresses.
In order to comply with the first two requirements construction of onshore pipelines in
the UK is normally carried out in a pipelining season, which extends from March to
October. During this season, when the weather is drier and warmer than at other times
of the year, there is less damage to the land and less danger of construction problems
due to equipment failure.
Before work commences, each landowner should be given written notice of the date on
which construction is due to start. Also a survey of the route should be carried out to
record the initial condition of the land and property and to agree access and crossing
points for livestock, farm vehicles etc.
The usual construction technique for cross country pipelines is the well-known ‘spread’
technique, whereby pipeline construction starts at one point and new lengths of pipe are
added to the ‘front end ‘ of the spread so that the pipeline grows progressively, Figure 1.
The various construction stages are carried out in turn by several teams of workers who
progress along the growing pipeline. For a long pipeline, more than one ‘spread’ may be
in operation at different points along the pipeline route in order to meet the desired
production schedule. Pipeline crossings are special situations and these are normally
installed separately and then tied-in to the main pipeline later. The spread technique
may also need to be modified for locations of an environmentally sensitive nature.
The following sections cover the transport of materials, preparation of the right of way,
welding of the pipeline and installation of the pipe in the trench.
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Figure 1. View along the spread from pipeline front end.
5.1.2 Transport and Care of Materials
Steel pipe should be transported, handled and stored in accordance with guidelines such
as IGE/TD6(1) or API RP5L1(2) and 5(3) . The main considerations are :
• for transport on ocean going vessels, the pipe should preferably be transported
below decks and suitably covered.
• the pipe should be transported in such a way that the creation of critical stresses or
fatigue cracks due to transport loads are avoided.
• the creation of dents, nicks, gouges, permanent bends or ovality in the pipe as a
result of transport and handling should be avoided.
• damage to pipe coatings should be avoided by using cushioned packing and by

providing an adequate number of support points. As a guide, a 12m length of pipe
should be supported at three equally spaced points, using supports with a minimum
width of 200mm.
• supports of sufficient height to prevent surface water or mud from contaminating the
pipe should be used.
• free water must be allowed to drain from the ends of the pipes or fittings.
• damage to machined weld end bevels should be avoided by using appropriate slings
and lifting equipment.
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• the stacking height of pipes should be kept to within recommended levels in order to
avoid plastic distortion of the pipes in the bottom layers of the stack, and pipes
should be supported pipes adequately along their length.
• storage of materials beneath overhead power lines should be avoided in order to

avoid induced magnetism in the pipe which could cause welding problems.
• pipe and fittings of each different specification (grade, diameter, wall thickness etc.).
should be stored separately and clear identification should be maintained.
If the coating on pipe or fittings is damaged the affected area should be repaired, or
where the damage is extensive the affected area should be completely re-coated. If the
pipe itself is damaged it may be rejected, or conditionally accepted by the responsible
engineer. (see Clause 5.1.5 for typical damage acceptance levels).
Pipe storage yards should be carefully positioned to ensure easy road or rail access.
Pipelines built in the UK have normally used maximum pipe lengths of 12m, which is
the maximum length supplied by most pipe mills. This maximum pipe length has also
been used because of perceived difficulties with the transport of longer lengths.
However, recently some large diameter 18m pipe lengths have been used on a UK
pipeline project. The use of these longer pipe lengths means that the number of girth
welds is reduced, with attendant economic advantages.
On major projects overseas, particularly those in remote locations, it is more common to

use longer pipe lengths or to use double, or even triple jointed pipe lengths. Two or
three standard pipe lengths are joined together at a field fabrication shop by rotating the
pipes under a submerged arc welding head. An internal root pass is made from inside
the pipe using a submerged arc welding head on a long reach boom and then one or
more external weld passes are made from outside the pipe under a fixed welding head.
The new pipe lengths are then transported to site. Since this double or triple jointing
operation is carried out away from the pipeline front end, the number of girth welds
which need to be made on the spread is reduced and the rate of pipeline construction
can, therefore, be increased significantly.
5.1.3 Preparing the Right of Way
The route of the pipeline should be set out in accordance with the agreed strip maps and
drawings and checked by the Engineer in charge of construction before work begins.
Care should be taken to locate and mark existing services and supplies owned by other
utilities. Before the pipe is strung out along the right of way it is necessary to define the
working area or working width, and to supply fencing on both sides, of a type designed
to keep out farm animals where necessary. A usual working width is of the order of
30m, but a greater working width may be required at road and river crossings and a
lesser width may sometimes be required in environmentally sensitive areas.
The impact of the construction activity on the drainage of the adjacent land should be
considered and, where necessary, cut off and header drains should be installed prior to
construction. Drains on the downhill side of the trench should be protected to prevent
intake of soil from construction activities.
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The right of way should be cleared of hedges and similar obstructions before the topsoil
is removed, and this should be kept separately from the subsoil for re-use. Trees should
only be felled with the permission of the engineer in charge of construction and the
timber remains the property of the landowner. Tree stumps and other debris should be
cleared from the right of way so that the excavated soil, which will be re-used, does not
contain any foreign matter. Archaeologists may be involved at this stage of construction
to detail any unrecorded findings which may appear during stripping of the land.
In areas of environmental concern, special precautions may be necessary, for example

to protect heather and grasses. Where dry grass or hay stubble is present adjacent to the
right of way suitable fire breaks and the provision of fire fighting equipment should be
considered.
A survey should also be taken along the pipeline route to measure the land profile and
the changes in pipe direction so that the pipe bending requirements may be estimated. In
most cases pipelines are laid at constant depth to the contour of the land, but in some
cases savings in field bending may be made by varying the depth of cover, provided the
specified minimum depth of cover is maintained.
5.1.4 Pipe Stringing and Cold Field Bending
The pipe should be strung along the pipeline route ensuring that the pipe grade, wall
thickness, diameter, and coating are in accordance with the engineering drawings for
that particular part of the pipeline, Figure 2.
Figure 2. Pipes strung out along the right of way prior to construction.
The pipe and fittings are usually placed on wooden blocks (skids) with suitable
cushioned padding to prevent damage to coatings, or sometimes on soft earth berms. In
the latter case it is good practice to place polyethylene sheet between the earth and the
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pipe Gaps between the pipes may need to be left at intervals to allow the passage of
vehicles and farming stock.
BS 8010 specifies that pipe may be flexed to a radius of curvature which does not
induce a bending stress greater than 85% of the specified minimum yield stress. Larger
curvatures can be accommodated by the use of cold field bends. The degree of bending
which may be used varies slightly from one code to another. The most common limit
(for example in ANSI B31.8 and IGE TD/1) is that the pipe may be bent by 1.5o per
diameter length of pipe, which equates to a bending radius of 38D (where D is the pipe
diameter). Many company codes specify a slightly more conservative limit of a
minimum bend radius of 40D. In certain cases small diameter pipe may be bent to
tighter radii, for example pipe less than 273mm diameter may be bent to 5o per diameter
length according to the Australian Standard AS2885 (4).
Cold field bending should be carried out by experienced operators using equipment that
is designed to prevent damage to the pipe during bending. This usually includes padded
bending shoes and, for large diameter/thin wall pipe, the use of an internal mandrel to
provide support to the pipe during bending. Straight lengths of pipe approximately
1.25m long are normally left at the ends of each bent section of pipe so that no ovality is
introduced into the ends of the pipe which might cause a fit-up problem for later girth
welding. IGE/TD1 also stipulates that cold field bending should not be carried out
within two pipe diameters of any existing girth weld and that when longitudinally
welded pipe is used the longitudinal weld should be at approximately 45o to the plane of
the bend. Other specifications call for the longitudinal weld to be on the neutral axis of
the bend. A typical field bending machine is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Typical field bending machine.
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IGE/TD1 states that a gauging plate of diameter not less than 95% of the nominal bore,
subject to a minimum clearance of 25mm, should be used to check ovality before the
bend is incorporated into the pipeline. Coating and wrapping applied before bending
should be examined and any damage or disbondment should be made good.
Cold field bending specifications usually specify that there should be no buckles, cracks
or mechanical damage in the finished bend. In practice it is often difficult to ensure
complete freedom from minor ripples on the bend surface, especially for high
diameter/wall thickness pipe. Attempts have been made to define acceptable acceptance
criteria for ovality and rippling and suggested levels are ripple heights less than 0.5-1.5
wall thickness and ovality less than 2.5-5%.
Mitre bends and lobster back bends are not normally allowed in high pressure pipelines.
It is probable that such bends when correctly manufactured would perform in an
acceptable manner but there is a perceived danger, from past experience, that their
manufacture is difficult and that defects are likely to be present. Nevertheless, for
practical reasons it is usual to allow a small degree of angular misalignment at a
pipeline butt weld, provided that it is evenly distributed across both sides of the joint.
For example ANSI B31.3 allows up to 3o of angular misalignment, and levels up to this
limit do not count as mitred joints.
5.1.5 Handling Damage
Before pipe or fittings are welded into the pipeline they should be checked for damage
and treated according to the following criteria:
5.1.5.1 Ovality
Ovality is defined as (Dmax-Dmin)/Dave x 100 where Dmax is the maximum outside

diameter of the distorted pipe, Dmin is the minimum inside diameter of the distorted pipe
and Dave is average outside diameter of the undistorted pipe. When ovality exceeds the
accepted limit, normally of the order of 21/2% the pipe section should be replaced with
new pipe.
5.1.5.2 Buckles
Some codes (eg AS 2885) allow minor buckles to remain in the pipeline, for example
when :
• the height is less than 25% of the nominal thickness.
• the width of the base is greater than 8 times the height.
• they blend smoothly with the adjacent surface.
5.1.5.3 Dents
Dents may be acceptable if :
• they do not contain any stress concentrators such as arc burns, cracks, gouges,
grooves.
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• they do not coincide with a weld.
• they do not impede the passage of pigs through the pipeline.
Dent acceptance limits vary but typical limits might be a maximum of 2% of the pipe
diameter for large diameter pipe.
5.1.5.4 Gouges
Gouges on the pipe surface can normally be repaired by grinding, provided the pipe is
not reduced below the minimum specified wall thickness.
5.1.5.5 Laminations, End Bevel Damage
Where laminations are found at the pipe ends the damaged end should be removed as a
cylinder, and the weld end bevel re-made. A band of 100mm width back from the new
end preparation should be inspected visually and by ultrasonics to the requirements of
the pipe supply specification to ensure that the new end is lamination free.
Mechanical damage on the weld end bevel, such as burrs, notches and score marks,
should be either blended out by grinding or, if severe, the pipe end should be re-
prepared.
5.1.6 End caps
The open ends of the pipeline should be covered with suitable end caps at the end of
each working day to prevent the ingress of debris, small animals etc. The end caps
should not be removed until work is resumed.
5.1.7 Site Welding
The speed of pipeline construction is critically dependent on the rate at which individual
pipe lengths can be attached to the front end of the growing pipeline. Thus the
construction rate is largely controlled by the speed of girth welding. In order to
maximise this speed, girth welding processes should fulfil the following criteria :
• they should able to deposit weld metal at high speed so that the joint, or at least the
first one or two weld passes of the weld joint, are completed quickly.
• they should use robust equipment which can tolerate being transported across rough
terrain.
• they should preferably cope with reasonably poor weather conditions, in terms of
wind, moisture etc., without the need for additional protection.
• they should not require a high level of welder skill.
• they should produce welds of acceptable quality without unnecessarily high repair
rates.
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This combination of requirements is not easy to meet and inevitably some compromises
have to be made, although speed remains the prime objective.
5.1.7.1 Site Welding Processes
5.1.7.1.1 Shielded Metal Arc Welding

Most site welding of pipelines is carried out using the shielded metal arc process and
this involves making multi -pass butt welds or fillet welds.
For the girth welding of pipe to pipe joints the direction of welding can be:-
(1) vertical down from 12 o’clock through to 6 o’clock (the fastest welding method,
commonly known as ‘stovepipe’ welding)
(2) vertical up from 6 o’clock through to 12 o’clock (the slowest welding method,
commonly known as ‘conventional’ welding)
(3) vertical up for the root pass, vertical down for the fill and cap passes (a compromise
for overall welding speed, known as ‘composite’ or in welder’s slang ‘dolly mix’
welding)
These techniques are shown in Figure 4
12 12 12
6 6 6
VERTICAL DOWN VERTICAL UP COMBINATION
(STOVEPIPE) (CONVENTIONAL) (DOLLY MIX)
Figure 4. Manual welding methods for pipeline girth welds.
The manual metal arc welding process is a fusion welding process and, therefore,
comprises:
(a) a heat source (in this case the electric arc).

(b) protection for the arc and the molten weld pool (provided by the gas shield around
the arc and the slag layer on the weld pool, both of which come from decomposition of
the electrode flux coatinging).
(c) filler metal to fill the weld preparation (this comes from the electrode core wire)
(Figure 5).
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Figure 5. Schematic of the manual metal arc welding process (after Gregory).
The importance of these various components is described below :
The electric arc
This is a low voltage, high current discharge (15-30 volts, 50-300 amps in SMAW)
which occurs between the end of the electrode and the work piece, and generates
temperatures in the region of 6,000oC. The heat from the arc melts the tip of the
electrode and also melts the abutting edges of the weld preparation and forms a molten
pool on the work piece. Molten droplets from the electrode tip are propelled across the
arc into the weld pool by gravity, surface tension and complicated electromagnetic
forces. Most SMAW welding of pipelines is carried out using direct current power
supplies, with the electrode connected to the positive side of the power supply, and the
welding return lead (often incorrectly referred to as ‘the earth return’) connected to the
negative side of the power supply. Occasionally, DC electrode negative or alternating
current (AC) power supplies may also be used for special applications. The power
supplies used for site welding of pipelines are normally relatively simple and robust
diesel powered motor generators with controls for regulation of current and slope
(voltage/ current relationship) The latter affects the arc force and is used by the welder
to control the operating characteristics of the welding electrode.
Protection for the arc and weld pool
The flux coating on the electrode decomposes during welding and fulfils three main
functions:
(1) It provides a gas shield around the arc and weld pool - this helps to maintain a stable
arc, and also prevents contamination of the molten weld pool by oxygen and
nitrogen in the surrounding air.
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(2) It melts to form a slag covering over the weld pool which 'fluxes out' impurities
from the weld pool. The slag layer also helps to contain the molten weld pool by
surface tension effects, so facilitating control by the welder, particularly when
welding vertically or overhead.
(3) It can be used to add alloying additions to the weld pool, since the electrode core
wire itself is normally a simple carbon manganese steel.
Electrode flux formulations vary according to the type and application of the welding
electrode, and the welding characteristics of individual makes of electrode also vary
according to the manufacturer’s own preferred formulation. Electrodes therefore have to
be carefully evaluated to ensure that they are easy to use and appeal to the welder, as
well as produce welds with the correct mechanical properties.
5.1.7.1.1.1 Electrode types
The pipeline industry makes use of electrodes with three main types of coating:
cellulosic, rutile and basic.
Cellulosic Electrodes
These electrodes are coated with cellulose in the form of wood pulp, which decomposes
in the heat of the arc to give a gas shield of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and water
vapour. The arc is harsh and deeply penetrating and the slag is light and fast freezing,
allowing welding to be carried out in the rapid vertical down direction. This makes
these electrodes suitable for stovepipe welding of pipeline girth welds. A disadvantage
with these electrodes is the large amount of hydrogen present in the gas shield that is
generated around the arc, since this can be dissolved in the weld pool and then cause
cracking in the weld metal or the heat affected zone. For this reason, careful control of
the welding procedure, especially preheat is required. These electrodes have historically
accounted for the majority of onshore pipeline construction.
Rutile Electrodes
These electrode coatings contain a high proportion of titanium dioxide (rutile) and
shield the weld pool largely by formation of a slag covering. The arc is much softer
than with cellulosic electrodes, and also rutile electrodes are less likely to cause
hydrogen cracking. Rutile electrodes are general purpose electrodes normally used in
the vertical up direction and these electrodes may be used for welding small diameter
process pipework, and for slip on flange and socket welding. These electrodes only find
limited use for specialised applications on pipelines.
Basic (Low Hydrogen) Electrodes
These electrodes are designed for use when hydrogen cracking is a problem, the coating
being based on calcium carbonate which produces a gas shield of carbon monoxide and
dioxide and very little hydrogen. They are also used where good weld metal toughness
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is required. Liberation of the gas shield around the arc is slow, which means porosity
can occur at stop/starts in the welding process and the welder must maintain a short arc
while welding.
Low hydrogen electrodes are used when attaching fittings, such as full encirclement
tees, to live gas pipelines. Traditionally low hydrogen electrodes have been used mainly
in the slow vertical up mode and have not been suitable for front-end pipeline
construction. Recently low hydrogen vertical down (LHVD) electrodes have been used
for the filling and capping passes on X80 pipeline girth welds. This is because there is a
problem of poor weld metal toughness, and a danger of weld metal hydrogen cracking,
when using high strength cellulose electrodes with these pipe grades.
The LHVD electrodes have been available for some years, but have been slow to be
accepted, since they require a slightly different welding technique compared to the
traditional cellulosic electrode. They can be used for root bead welding of multipass
pipe girth welds, but they are not as quick as cellulosic electrodes for this part of the
joint and require special welder training. As a result, a mixed cellulosic/LHVD
procedure has been used. This combines the speed and relative ease of use of the
cellulosic electrode for the first two weld passes (the root and hot pass) with the good
toughness and freedom from weld metal hydrogen cracking of the low hydrogen
electrode when used for the fill and cap passes.
5.1.7.1.1.2 Welding techniques
The traditional method of joining steel pipe using SMAW welding is, to make a full
penetration weld between pipe ends which have a 30o pipe end bevel, and which have
been set up so there is a small gap between them. The pipe ends also have a root face
(‘nose’, or ‘landing edge’) of about 1.5mm to prevent the root bead weld pool from
melting away the adjoining pipe material too quickly.
Several weld runs may be required in order to completely fill the weld preparation (Fig
6). Considerable skill is required during deposition of the first or root weld run in order
to bridge the gap between the pipe ends with molten metal, at the same time ensuring
consistent penetration of the pipe bore. Less skill is required to fill the remainder of the
weld preparation since the problem of over-penetration or 'burn-through' is much
reduced once the root run has been completed.
Figure 6. Weld deposition sequence

1. Root pass
2. Hot pass
3. Hot fill pass
4. Fill pass
5. Fill pass
6. Cap pass
As mentioned previously, the chosen welding direction may change depending on the
application. For full penetration pipe to pipe girth welds, the technique normally used is
vertical down welding using cellulosic electrodes - 'stovepipe' welding. The weld
preparation is as shown in Figure 7a and the weld sequence is shown in Figure 4. The
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vertical down technique is considerably quicker than vertical up welding, for example a
weld pass in a 950 mm pipe will take two welders (one welding on each side of the
pipe) about 13 minutes when welding vertically down, whereas 32 minutes should be
allowed when welding vertically up.
However, despite its slowness, the vertical up technique with cellulosic electrodes is
frequently used for non-ideal circumstances. A vertical up, or as it is more usually
known, a ‘conventional’ weld, is usually used where the fit up of the joint is less than
perfect. This is because the conventional weld joint preparation uses a larger root gap
than the stovepipe weld (Figure 7b) and, because of the slower welding speed, can
tolerate greater variations in root gap around the joint. Therefore, the conventional
welding technique is used for tie-in welds between fixed sections of pipe, since it is
difficult to cut the make-up pipe sections with sufficient accuracy and some variation in
root gap is invariably present. In addition, a conventional weld is used for welding
fittings, such as bends, tees and flanges into the pipeline because the greater heat input
resulting from the slower welding speed helps to compensate for the increased thickness
and higher chemistry of the fitting.
o o
60 +- 10
0 60 +- 10
0
1.5 +- 10 mm 1.5 +- 10 mm
1.5 +- 10 mm 2.4 +- 00.8 mm
a) Weld preparation for vertical down weld b) Weld preparation for vertical up weld
Figure 7. Weld preparations for welds with vertical down and vertical up root beads.
An alternative procedure, which is used for welding fittings, tie-ins, and small diameter
pipe to pipe joints, is to use conventional welding for the root run only, and then to
complete the weld using vertical down welding - this is known as composite or 'dolly
mix' welding. This procedure combines the ease of use of the vertical up root bead with
the speed of the vertical down fill and cap passes.
For all girth welding techniques, regardless of welding direction, the most difficult part
of the weld to make, and the one most prone to defects, is the root bead.
5.1.7.1.1.3 Welding Procedure
Site welding for pipeline construction is normally carried out to international or national
codes such as, API1104(5) or BS4515(6), although many companies also have their own
additional requirements. Before any welding is carried out on site, a welding procedure
is submitted by the contractor for approval. After the initial procedure proposal has been
approved, with any revisions thought necessary, the contractor is normally required to
carry out a procedure qualification test weld which is examined non-destructively and
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destructively to the requirements of the relevant specification. This is done to
demonstrate that the proposed procedure can be applied without difficulty and is
capable of meeting the specification requirements. However, pre-qualified procedures
(ie. those which have already been qualified on a similar pipeline) are increasingly
accepted, provided the qualification has been supervised and approved by an
independent third party.
Some of the items specified on a welding procedure sheet are discussed below:
Welding electrodes
The principal requirement for welding electrodes are that they shall deposit weld metal
which has adequate strength and toughness, and is compatible with the properties of the
pipe material. Secondly, but by no means of secondary importance, is the ability of the
electrodes to be used without difficulty by the average welder, ie. they must have good
operating characteristics.
For full penetration welding the types of electrode used are designed to give an
'overmatching' weld metal. This means that the weld metal should have higher tensile
strength than the minimum specified tensile strength of the pipe material. This is
required by both American (API 1104) and British Standards (BS4515) pipeline
welding standards, and is demonstrated by a transweld tensile test. For pipe grades up to
X65 this also means that the yield strength of the weld metal usually overmatches that
of the pipe, although only the tensile strength is measured in the transweld tensile test.
This overmatching of tensile properties means that the potential effect of defects in the
weld region is minimised. This is because any tensile plastic strain created across the
weld due to external loading (for example, due to ground movement) will be
experienced by the pipe rather than the weld metal. For higher yield pipes it is more
difficult to guarantee yield strength overmatching and there is currently much debate
about the need to specify a weld metal yield strength overmatching requirement, as well
as a tensile strength overmatching requirement, in pipeline specifications.
An exception to the general rule of overmatching is the use of a lower yield strength,
nominally undermatching, electrode when depositing the root run in multi-pass girth
welds. This serves the purpose of allowing some of the stresses generated during
welding of the root bead (for example due to weld metal thermal contraction and pipe
handling operations) to be accommodated by the weld metal. The reason for this is to
reduce the stress build up in the root bead heat affected zone (HAZ), in order to avoid
hydrogen induced cracking. The lower yield electrodes also normally produce a
smoother root bead profile than higher yield electrodes. Once the root bead is in place,
subsequent weld runs (with the higher yield strength electrode) help to temper the
critical heat affected zone region and produce a finished weld that overmatches the pipe
in tensile properties.
Welding parameters
The welding procedure must include the weld preparation dimensions, the direction of
welding (vertical down, vertical up, or composite), and also the electrode sizes, currents
and voltages which are to be used. These points ensure that the weld deposit is being
made in a reasonable manner, both to ensure that the strength will be correct, and also to
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ensure that the welder is able to control the weld pool adequately, and so keep the
incidence of defects to a low level.
Preheat temperatures and, weld interpass times
To avoid excessive HAZ hardening and to minimise the amount of hydrogen which is
likely to be trapped in the HAZ after welding, a number of requirements are specified in
the welding procedure. The first of these requirements is that the weld shall be
preheated before any weld is deposited. Preheating serves the dual purpose of drying
the components by driving off moisture, and slowing the cooling rate after welding by
reducing the thermal sink effect of the cold pipe material either side of the joint.
The minimum specified preheat level is normally determined from the pipe chemistry,
or by carrying out weldability trials. These trials consist of welding together, under
controlled conditions, pipes with chemistry towards the maximum from any particular
order. This test weld is then sectioned and the pipe HAZ is tested for the hardness and
the sections examined for cracking. Based on these results, a recommended preheat is
decided. For current steels, the vast majority of pipes can be welded in temperate
climatic conditions with a preheat of 50o C. However there may be situations which
demand higher preheats than this, for example X80 grade pipe, or heavy wall (e.g.
greater than 25mm) pipe, or welding in adverse weather conditions.
Since pipeline girth welds are usually multirun welds, the minimum interpass
temperature between weld passes must also be controlled. In the majority of cases the
minimum specified interpass temperature is the same as the initial preheat temperature.
A maximum specified value of interpass temperature will also be given, usually 250oC.
If the interpass temperature is allowed to rise higher than this (for example when
carrying out successive weld passes on a weld in low heat sink materials such as small
diameter thin wall pipe) then there is a danger that the weld will suffer a loss in strength
or toughness.
Fittings, such as tees and bends etc, always need a higher preheat than is normal for
pipe to pipe joints. This is for two reasons, one of which is that the steel used in these
fittings is frequently of a more hardenable type than the pipe. The other, is that the
thickness of the fittings is somewhat greater than the pipe so it acts as an additional heat
sink, which means that the heat will be dissipated much more rapidly. The preheat
normally used for welding fittings is of the order of 150oC.
The other major part of a welding procedure which is introduced to control the cracking
tendency is the time limitation between the start of one run and the start of the next run.
Stipulation of such a maximum interpass time ensures that when the first weld run is
deposited a second weld run (the ‘hot pass’) is placed on top of it as quickly as is
reasonably possible so that the heat may be maintained in the joint. This second run
also gives the additional benefit of reinforcing the first run or root run so that it can
withstand any movement on site better. There is often also a designated maximum time
lapse between the second and third runs for the same reason.
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5.1.7.1.1.3 Proving the procedure
Once the submitted welding procedure has been examined, and if a suitable pre-
qualified procedure is not available, the next stage is to test that procedure to see if it
meets the specification. To this end, when a contract has been awarded, the contractor
is required to carry out a simulated field weld, preferably on full lengths of pipe, using
the designated procedure. The weld is visually inspected throughout its execution, and
it is inspected using radiography and magnetic particle technique on completion, to
check that the weld meets defect acceptance limits in the specification. The joint is cut
up into mechanical test specimens and mechanical testing is carried out according to the
relevant specification.
Mechanical testing usually involves transweld tensile tests to prove that the weld metal
tensile strength overmatches the minimum specified tensile strength of the pipe, Charpy
V notch toughness tests to prove adequate notch toughness, and macro and hardness
examination to prove that the weld and HAZ are defect free and not susceptible to
cracking. In the case of mechanised welding processes, which can be prone to lack of
fusion defects (see later), there may also be a requirement to carry out crack tip opening
displacement (CTOD) tests on the qualification weld, particularly if the procedure is to
be used for an offshore pipeline. The value of the CTOD test is that it gives information
which can be used to carry out fitness-for-purpose assessments of defective welds
which may avoid the need for costly and difficult repairs.
Once the welding procedure has been qualified, the competence of the welders to use
the qualified procedure must be tested. The welder's test consists of making a weld to
the qualified procedure. Some standards then allow the welder to be assessed using only
non-destructive methods, such as radiography and magnetic particle inspection. In this
way the welder can be qualified on his first production weld. Other standards call for
mechanical tests to be carried out, similar to those used to qualify the original
procedure. The weld is acceptable if it meets the mechanical property levels and/or
contains defects which are within the acceptable defect levels given in the standard.
These acceptable defect levels are workmanship levels, in other words they represent a
quality level which should be achieved by a reasonably competent welder. It is well
known that greater amounts of defect are acceptable on a fitness-for-purpose basis, but
these relaxed limits are only used where it would be difficult to carry out a repair (eg
tie-in welds, defects discovered in service, or welds in subsea pipelines).
5.1.7.1.1.4 Production Welding
Large diameter pipelines are usually welded using an internal pneumatic alignment
clamp which is used to position the two pipe ends ready for welding. The clamp has two
sets of shoes arranged radially around the pipe circumference, each set designed to grip
the pipe internal surface each side of the weld preparation. The clamp is entered into the
front end of the last pipe to be welded and then the second, new, pipe length is offered
up by means of a side boom tractor, Figure 8. By manipulating the side boom, and using
spacer wedges if necessary, the two pipe ends are then positioned to give the correct
root gap around the joint. The shoes on the clamp are then activated to grip each pipe
and hold them steady in relation to each other. The clamp is activated by a reach rod
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which links the clamp with the pneumatic power supply required to activate the clamp
through the open end of the second pipe.
Figure 8. Use of internal alignment clamp to set up pipes for welding.
For small diameter pipes, and welds involving fittings or tie-ins, an internal clamp
cannot be used and an external clamp has to be used. This means that only part of the
root bead can be deposited before the clamp is removed, compared to the use of an
internal clamp where the complete root bead can be deposited before the clamp is
removed. This is one of the reasons that a vertical up root bead is used for welds
involving an external clamp since the thicker weld deposit obtained with this technique
is better able to withstand any stresses seen after removal of the clamp than the thinner
vertical down root bead.
On a pipeline spread the pipe ends have normally been preheated for welding in
advance of the fit up stage, but if not they should now be preheated ready for welding.
The preheat is usually carried out using hand held propane torches and checked with
temperature indicating crayons which melt when the correct temperature is reached.
When preheat is carried out in advance of the fit up stage this is often done with a ring
of propane nozzles held on a rotating assembly inside the pipe ends.
Once the pipe ends are aligned for welding, and the correct preheat temperature has
been confirmed a team of front end welders deposit the root bead. The number of
welders used on the root bead (‘bead hands’ or ‘front end welders’) varies according to
the pipe diameter. The number may vary from one welder on small diameter pipe (e.g
less than 300mm diameter) to up to five welders on very large diameter pipe (e.g
1200mm diameter). The aim is to complete the root bead as quickly as possible, so that
the maximum possible number of welders is used, together with the vertical down
(stovepipe) technique, Figure 9.
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Figure 9. Root bead welding of 1050mm diameter pipe using four welders.
Once the root bead is completed the internal clamp is released, and welder’s assistants
grind the surface of the root bead to remove slag and to produce a flat profile suitable to
receive the next weld run, the hot pass. If the amount of grinding is not adequate, slag
may be trapped at the edges of the outer surface of the root bead, and this may not be
completely burnt out by the hot pass weld run. This defect will remain in the weld and
show up on the radiograph of the weld as two parallel lines of slag at each edge of the
root bead (colloquially known as ‘wagon tracks’). Next the pipe, which has been held
by the sideboom in a sling, is raised slightly to allow blocks or earth to be placed under
the pipe, before it is then lowered off onto these supports, Figure 10.
Figure 10. Lowering off pipe onto supports.
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This lift and lower operation places a stress on the root bead, particularly at the 12 and 6
o’clock positions and can increase the risk of hydrogen cracking in the weld HAZ.
Although modern pipe has much better weldablity (and therefore freedom from
hydrogen cracking) compared to older pipe, it is still sensible to limit the amount of
pipe manipulation at this stage in order to reduce the stress on the partially completed
weld. In the case of large diameter pipe, or pipelines being constructed in adverse
terrain, it is sometimes necessary to complete all or part of the second pass (the hot
pass) before releasing the clamp. This ensures that the weld is strong enough to
accommodate the stress imposed on it when the clamp is released.
Once the root bead is completed and the pipe is lowered off the next pipe length is set
up for welding and the sequence is repeated. Meanwhile the hot pass welders will
deposit the hot pass (unless it has already been completed – see above). The maximum
time interval between starting the root bead and starting the hot pass is controlled (see
Table 1) so that the heat input from the hot pass weld tempers the underlying root bead,
and its HAZ, as soon as possible. In this way the danger of hydrogen cracking in the
relatively hard as-deposited structure of the weld is reduced. Maintaining the heat in the
weld in this way also helps to reduce the overall level of hydrogen in the weld by aiding
diffusion of the hydrogen from the weld into the atmosphere.
Table 1. Typical maximum times between commencement of root and commencement

of second pass (from Reference 7)
The subsequent welding passes do not control the overall speed of the pipeline and it is
possible to use more than one team of fill and capping pass welders, usually working in
pairs, Figure 11. These welders are usually less skilled, and therefore less well paid than
the front end welders, since this part of the welding operation is easier to carry out and
welding speed is less important.
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Figure 11. Fill and cap welders in operation at back end of pipeline.
5.1.7.1.1.4 Mechanised GMAW Welding
Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is available in two forms: semi-automatic and
mechanised. In the GMAW process the filler wire is in the form of a continuous reel of
bare wire which is fed to the welding gun so that welding can proceed virtually
uninterrupted. The weld pool is shielded by a stream of gas (usually argon or carbon
dioxide, or a mixture of the two) which is supplied through a nozzle in the welding gun
(Figure 12).
In semi-automatic form the filler wire is fed through a flexible tube to a hand held gun,
but the welding arc length is controlled automatically. In the 1960's the introduction of
large diameter X60 pipes made from normalised (high carbon equivalent) steels led to
widespread HAZ hydrogen cracking problems when using cellulosic SMAW electrodes.
Semi automatic GMAW welding, which is a low hydrogen welding process, was used
in an effort to overcome this, Figure 13. However, the process was relatively new and
problems were experienced with the equipment and with lack of fusion defects in the
welds. With the introduction of controlled rolled steels with better weldability, the
process was abandoned and cellulosic electrodes once again became popular.
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Figure 12. Schematic of GMAW welding gun (after Gregory).
Figure 13. Semi-automatic GMAW process in use on pipeline in 1960’s.
More recently, fully mechanised GMAW welding has been used, the main impetus for
its use being the fast welding speed and the reduced dependence on skilled manual
welders, Figure 14. However, a manual welder can accommodate variations in joint fit-
up around the pipe by altering his current, travel speed, and electrode angle, which is
particularly important for the root bead. When using mechanised welding this form of
root bead control is not present and other solutions to this problem have been
developed. These solutions have been adopted in various proprietary welding systems
and they fall into two groups, those in which all welding is carried out from outside the
pipe and those in which the root bead is deposited from inside the pipe.
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Figure 14. Mechanised GMAW pipe welding (courtesy CRC-Evans).
The first group, which includes the Serimer ‘Saturnax’ equipment, the Saipem ‘Passo’
and the Vermaat system, normally use a narrow weld bevel with a small root gap at the
base of the weld preparation. A removable copper backing strip, which is built into an
internal alignment clamp, is used to support the root bead as it is being deposited
(Figure 15).
Figure 15. Internal welding clamp with copper backing shoes (courtesy Saipem).
All the weld passes are made from outside the pipe using some form of motorised
welding carriage travelling on a steel band or guide ring which is clamped around the
pipe. The welding head, and sometimes the spool of filler wire, is carried on the
carriage, or ‘bug’ and the welder constantly monitors and controls the positioning of the
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welding torch in the weld bevel by means of a handwheel on the bug (see Figure 14) or
motorised slides controlled by a remote pendant (see Figure 16).
Figure 16. Vermaat welding bug with remote pendant (Courtesy Transco).
The second group of systems consists of the long established CRC-Evans system, the
Autoweld system, and a newly developed system by Serimer. These systems also use a
narrow weld bevel, but with a closed root gap, and with a small internal weld bevel
which is filled by a number of internal welding heads built into an internal alignment
clamp, Figures 17 and 18. The remaining external weld runs are deposited by bugs
similar to those previously described.
Figure 17. Internal alignment and welding clamp (courtesy Autoweld Systems).
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Figure 18. Internal root bead welding on 1200mm diameter pipe (courtesy CRC-
Evans).
The relative merits of the two systems are the simpler internal clamp in the case of the
copper backing shoe systems, and the freedom from the danger of copper contamination
of the root bead in the case of the combined internal/external welding systems.
Both systems use a reduced pipe bevel angle of 5-7o compared to the 30o bevel used for
manual SMAW welding. This is because the deposition rate of the GMAW welding
system is limited by the maximum wire diameter and current that can be used. This in
turn is controlled by the need to maintain a small, fast freezing weld pool. This is
because with these processes there is no slag covering to help support the weld pool
against the effects of gravity as welding proceeds around the pipe. High production rate
has, therefore, to be achieved in other ways. Hence the narrow joint preparation
needing less weld metal, and the use of several welding heads (6 for the internal root
bead on 900mm and 1050 mm diameter pipe). In addition with the internal root
welding systems the external hot pass can be started while the internal root bead is still
being completed. Figure 19 compares the weld volume for mechanised GMAW and
manual SMAW welds.
Figure 19. Macrosections from mechanised GMAW and manual SMAW welds
(courtesy CRC-Evans).
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The end preparation for mechanised GMAW is machined on site using a purpose made
machine and this takes typically 7-8 minutes. Setting up time for the joint is faster than
for SMAW, and typical welding times for the root bead and hot pass are 5 minutes for
mechanised GMAW and 22 minutes for SMAW (all for 1050 mm pipe).
The filler wire used in GMAW welding is essentially a plain low carbon steel, but with
controlled additions of deoxidising elements such as manganese and silicon. The wires
are also often microalloyed with titanium to improve toughness and sometimes alloyed
with nickel or molybdenum to improve strength. The shielding gas used for the root
pass is an argon-carbon dioxide mixture which gives a good external weld profile. For
all other passes either pure carbon dioxide or argon- carbon dioxide mixtures are used.
Although the mechanised GMAW welding system produces a weld deposit low in
hydrogen so that HAZ cracking should not be a problem, it has some other metallurgical
disadvantages.
First, because the process uses low currents and fast welding speeds, it is a low heat
input process. This means that the weld cools rapidly and can exhibit high hardness
which may lead to stress corrosion cracking problems if the pipeline sees sour service.
This is particularly true of the capping pass HAZ which does not receive the benefit of
the tempering effect of a subsequent weld pass. In extreme cases, with old high carbon
equivalent steels it was necessary to post heat the finished weld or to deposit the cap
using SMAW, when the increased heat input helped to reduce the problem. Modern low
carbon equivalent steels do not usually give such severe HAZ hardness problems and it
is normally possible to weld them using standard procedures.
The low heat input and steep sided weld bevel of the mechanised GMAW process
means that it is also prone to lack of fusion defects. This is especially true if the welding
head is not maintained in a centralised position in the weld bevel, when lack of sidewall
fusion can occur. Constant operator supervision and adjustment of the welding heads is,
therefore, required.
Another problem found in the past was that of centre line weld metal cracking. This
could occur because of the high depth to width ratio of the weld bead (especially the hot
pass), which could lead to segregation of weak impurity films to the weld centre line.
These films acted as planes of weakness and could crack during weld bead contraction.
The remedy was to control both the weld preparation and the welding variables so that
satisfactory weld geometry was obtained. With the advent of modern clean steels and
welding consumables this type of problem is now rare.
The use of mechanised pipeline welding for the construction of onshore pipelines is
increasing, especially as the pool of skilled SMAW pipeline welders is reducing. It is
particularly attractive for long stretches of large diameter cross-country pipeline, and for
construction of offshore pipelines, when the correct technical support facilities can be
provided. However, it is not so attractive for short stretches of pipeline, for small
diameter pipelines or for welding of fittings and tie-ins. Therefore, manual metal arc
welding will continue to be used for these applications although, with the use of higher
strength pipes and fittings, there is increasing pressure to change from traditional
cellulosic stovepipe electrodes to the new generation of low hydrogen electrodes.
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5.1.7.1.1.5 Semi-automatic Flux Cored Arc Welding
As described earlier, semi-automatic gas metal arc welding fell out of favour because of
problems with equipment and with lack of fusion defects associated with the process.
More recently tubular flux-cored welding wires have been produced which can be used
in place of the traditional solid wires. These wires operate with a different arc
characteristic compared to solid wires and are less prone to lack of fusion defects. These
flux cored wires can be used with mechanised welding systems but they introduce the
problem of slag removal between weld passes, which can be difficult in the narrow weld
bevel. Although they have been used for fill and cap welding with such systems
(normally using manual root bead welding and conventional weld bevels), the flux
cored wires may have more application when used with semi-automatic welding
equipment.
Flux cored wires for semi-automatic application are available in two main types, gas
shielded (GSFCAW), Figure 20, and self shielded (SSFCAW), Figure 21. The gas
shielded types are more versatile and tend to produce better weld mechanical properties,
but they suffer from a sensitivity to disruption of the gas shield by the wind. The self
shielded wires, on the other hand are more tolerant to site welding conditions but the
welding procedure needs to be carefully controlled in order to optimise the mechanical
properties, particularly toughness.
Figure 20. Gas shielded flux cored arc Figure 21. Self shielded flux cored arc
welding (courtesy AWS). welding (courtesy AWS).
The most common self shielded wires are those produced under the Lincoln
‘Innershield’ brand name. These can be used in the vertical down mode and because the
filler wire is on a spool there are fewer stop/starts than with manual welding. Therefore,
productivity advantages are claimed with the use of such processes. However, although
SSFCAW filler wires which can be used for root bead welding are available, they
require a higher level of skill and training than the fill and cap wires. It is, therefore,
currently normal practice to weld the root and hot pass with SMAW before filling and
capping with SSFCAW.
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5.1.7.2 Future Developments
A number of novel ‘one-shot’ or rapid single station welding processes have been
developed over the last 30 years, few of which have progressed beyond the prototype
stage. These processes offer the prospect of low skill requirements, reduced manpower,
and fast welding speeds. However, their introduction is hindered by the absence of
suitable standards, particularly in the fields of non-destructive examination and weld
defect acceptance levels. There is currently renewed interest in some of these processes
because of the need to build large diameter, long distance pipelines in remote locations,
using high grade steels, and with a shortage of suitably skilled local labour. A brief
summary of the most common novel processes is given below:
• flash butt welding - this process was first developed for pipeline use over 20 years
ago in the former USSR and has been used extensively for the construction of long
distance pipelines in remote locations such as Siberia. The system uses an internal
clamp which introduces a large current supply to the two mating pipe ends, Arcing
occurs between the pipe ends and this heats the pipe material locally at the ends,
Figure 22. A forging force is then applied to consolidate the weld without the use of
filler wire. Internal and external upsets are formed by the material displaced from the
weld which are removed before the weld is put into service. There are concerns about
the quality control aspects of the process and about the as-welded toughness levels.
Extensive development for offshore use took place in the late 1980’s but this did not
lead to any firm contracts and the work was abandoned. More recently BP have
expressed interest in the technique for large diameter, long distance pipelines in
remote locations, but to date its only serious pipeline use has been within the former
USSR
Figure 22. Flash butt welding of 1400mm diameter pipe in the former Soviet Union.
• explosive welding - developments aimed at an explosive welded pipe to pipe jointing

technique took place in Canada and in Sweden in the 1980’s. The Canadian system
used a bell and spigot joint design with balanced external and internal explosive
charges which were detonated simultaneously, Figure 23, while the Swedish system
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used a sleeved joint with just an internal charge. Both systems suffered from
problems with noise, and lack of suitable inspection techniques and standards. The
Canadian system was used for a short demonstration section of pipeline but it
appears that both systems have now been mothballed.
Figure 23. Section through explosively welded bell and spigot pipe joint
• magnetically impelled arc butt (MIAB) welding - this technique is used for joining
mass produced tubular parts in the motor car industry and attempts have been made
to develop site equipment suitable for welding small diameter pipelines. Like flash
butt welding, an arc is struck between the two pipe ends but in this case external
magnets cause the arc to rotate around the circumference of the joint before the
forging force is applied, Figure 24. The process is only suitable for relatively thin
wall (7-8mm) pipe which restricts it to small diameters. TWI developed MIAB pipe
welding equipment for Nova Corporation of Canada a few years ago, but it too
appears to have been mothballed for unknown reasons.
Figure 24. Schematic of magnetically impelled arc butt welding.
• friction welding - a version of friction welding known as radial friction welding has
shown some promise for pipeline use and equipment is being developed for laybarge
applications, principally to weld corrosion resistant alloy pipes. The process involves
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spinning a ring of pipe material in a machined bevel formed when the two pipe ends
are brought together. Whilst the ring is rotating in the bevel it is radially compressed
and the friction heat generated fuses the two pipe ends and the ring together, Figure
25. The process is only suited to small diameter pipe and use of the process for land
pipelines is unlikely because of the high cost and bulk of the equipment.
Figure 25. Schematic of radial

friction welding. (courtesy TWI).
• SAG forge welding - this is a process developed in Norway which involves induction
heating of the pipe ends in a reducing atmosphere, followed by forging of the pipes
together. Its application is similar to radial friction welding and it is probably more
appropriate for laybarge welding of small offshore flowlines. Although it has been
extensively tested by companies such as Statoil, it currently seems to be still at the
development stage.
• homopolar pulse welding - this process uses a large current discharge created from
the stored energy in a rotating homopolar generator by electromagnetic induction.
The discharge across the contacting pipe ends causes resistance heating and once
again the weld is formed by applying a forging pressure using a hydraulic press,
Figure 26. The process is being developed in the University of Texas for application
in J lay offshore laybarges and is unlikely to be particularly suitable for onshore
pipelines.
• electron beam welding - there have been several attempts to develop electron beam
welding systems for pipelines, the earliest being in the 1960’s. Electron beam
welding relies on the use of a keyhole welding technique, and it is difficult to
maintain control of the keyhole when welding around a horizontal pipe. Recent
attempts to develop electron beam welding of pipelines have, therefore, concentrated
on J lay applications for offshore pipelines, where the pipe is welded in the vertical
position.
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Figure 26. Schematic of honmopolar pulse welding.
• laser welding - like EB welding, there have been several attempts to develop laser
welding systems for pipelines. The laser beam also operates in the keyhole mode
(Figure 27), but it is not as penetrating as the electron beam, so that there is an upper
limit on the wall thickness which may be welded. The maximum wall thickness is
also controlled by the welding position, with welding of pipe in the horizontal
position being limited to about 15mm because of weld pool control problems. For
pipe in the vertical position (as in offshore J laying) the limit is more likely to be
30mm. The big advantage of laser welding compared to EB welding is that there is
no need to have a vacuum around the joint. There is some use of laser welding in
Japan for the longitudinal welding of pipe seams, often in combination with other
processes.
Figure 27. Schematic of laser keyhole welding
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5.1.8 Construction Spread Technique
Although some of the operations described below have already been covered in the
sections on welding processes, they are repeated here for completeness.
Once the right of way has been marked out and cleared, the pipe has been strung out
along the right of way, and the welding procedures and welders have been qualified,
then construction can start. The usual technique is to support the first pipe on skids
made from wooden beams and then offer up the next pipe length to it in a pipe sling
suspended from a side boom tractor. The two mating pipe ends may have been
previously pre-heated using a propane ring burner placed inside the pipe ends.
For manual welding of large diameter (greater than approximately 400mm diameter)
pipe, a pneumatic internal welding alignment clamp is used to support the two mating
pipe ends. The rams on the clamp are activated to hold both pipes ends together in
alignment, with a root gap between the ends which is appropriate to the welding
procedure being used.
The preheat temperature is then checked immediately before welding starts, to make
sure it is above the minimum temperature specified in the qualified welding procedure.
The free pipe is supported in the sling by the side boom, whilst the root bead of the weld
is made using two, three or four welders, depending on the pipe diameter. Immediately
the root bead welding is completed, the clamp is released and the welders’ assistants
step in to de-slag and grind the external surface of the root bead. This is necessary
because the external surface of a stovepipe root bead is normally quite convex, and if
this convexity is not removed by grinding then weld defects such as trapped slag
(‘wagon tracks’) can be introduced. Obviously, if this grinding is overdone, the
remaining root bead cross section is reduced too much and weld cracking can result
because of the inability of the weld to support the pipe handling stresses.
At the same time as the clamp is released, the suspended pipe is lifted slightly to enable
wooden support blocks to be placed underneath it and it is then lowered onto the blocks.
Once the pipe is lowered onto the blocks the front end crew proceed to the next joint
and the whole operation is repeated. However, where pipe is being constructed over
very hilly terrain (and the pipe handling stresses are, therefore, higher), or where
especially large diameter/heavy wall pipe is being welded, it may be necessary to
deposit extra reinforcement on the root bead before the pipe is lowered off. This may
take the form of the complete hot pass being deposited, or the hot pass being deposited
in the 12 and 6 o’clock positions since this is where the lift and lower stresses are
highest. Obviously, the need for this extra welding slows the pace of the front end
welding crew and is, therefore, only carried out when absolutely necessary.
Once the front end welding crew have completed their work on a joint, and moved to
the next one, the hot pass (if not already completed) and fill and cap welders can then
follow behind them completing the weld. There is less time pressure on this part of the
operation since it does not directly impact on the speed of the pipeline construction and
more than one welding crew can be used.
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The operation of a pipeline spread with mechanised welding systems is similar in many
ways to that for manual welding. However, the equipment is more sophisticated, so that
greater care has to be taken than with manual welding, and it is normal to provide tents
or metal cabins over the welding area to prevent the shielding gas from being disrupted
by wind. Because of the smaller weld volume with mechanised GMAW, and the ability
of some welding equipment to deposit more than one weld run at each station, the
spread length for mechanised welding can be shorter than for manual welding and the
numbers of welders required is usually less. However, mechanised welding systems
take longer to mobilise than manual welding equipment. Also it has to be accepted that
repair rates for the first few kilometres of pipeline laid using such systems may
relatively high due to the need to ‘run in’ the system and to familiarise personnel with
the new procedures. Also some manual welding is still required on the spread, for
example to carry out non-standard welds such as tie-ins, special fabrications, and fillet
welded attachments. For all these reasons, mechanised welding may only be
economically attractive for large diameter pipelines of reasonable length (say more than
20-30km).
The speed of pipeline construction using the spread technique depends on many factors,
including pipeline diameter, terrain, welding process, number and proficiency of front
end welders, and reliability of the plant. Nevertheless, for manual welding, production
rates of over 100 welds a day, or over 1km of pipe welded, are possible, even on pipe of
900-1000mm diameter, if these factors are optimised. For mechanised welding higher
production rates are possible.
Once a weld has been made it must be inspected to ensure that its quality meets the
requirements laid down in the pipeline welding standard. For manual welding this
inspection, which is described in the next section, is carried out after a set time interval
has elapsed after welding, such as a minimum of 24hrs. This is to allow any hydrogen
cracking time to develop, since this is a time dependent process.
As well as the standard circumferential girth welds which are used to join pipe to pipe,
or pipe to bends, valves and tees, pipeline contains a number of other joint types :
Set-on Branch Fittings
These are shaped offtakes with integral reinforcement which are welded on to the pipe,
using a full penetration weld, Figure 28. which are used when small diameter pipe
Large weldolets can involve considerable volumes of weld metal, thus creating high
pipe wall residual stresses, and the attachment welds can suffer from lack of penetration
due to the difficult electrode access. Inspection of the weld is also difficult due to its
geometry, and magnetic particle inspection is normally used to examine for surface
breaking defects. Fatigue cracking problems have been experienced with the attachment
welds associated with large weldolets in the past, and some companies now limit the
maximum size of weldolet which can be used to those with a 90mm diameter offtake.
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Figure 28.
Forged set–on branch fitting
Set-in Branch Fittings
These are butt welded offtakes which are set in to the pipe wall. Careful preparation of
the hole in the pipe in which they sit is required, in order to ensure a good fit-up for
welding, Figure 29. Set-in can be inspected more easily than set-on fittings because they
use a butt weld rather than a fillet weld, and this can be examined by radiography. They
are used for larger diameter offtakes than set-on fittings since the stress concentration
profile of the branch and the weld is better. However, cracking has been experienced
with these fittings due to the high restraint of the joint (similar to welding a patch into a
hole). Therefore, it is important to achieve a good fit up between the branch and the
carrier pipe before welding and to use a balanced welding procedure, preferably using
low hydrogen welding electrodes.
Figure 29.
Forged set-in branch fitting
CP Connections
Cathodic protection connections are normally attached to plates or sections fillet welded
on to the pipe. Since these connections are small and non-pressure containing, they tend
to be treated casually, and can therefore suffer from defects, particularly cracking,
which may propagate into the pipe wall. For this reason cathodic protection plates
should be welded with low hydrogen electrodes using a two pass welding procedure,
Figure 30.
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Figure 30.
Cathodic Protection Plate
Other techniques are available for the attachment of CP connections, such as thermit
brazing, and pin brazing. Thermit brazing uses a graphite mould, which is placed
around the end of the CP cable and a bared area of pipe. A proprietary themit brazing
mixture is then placed in the mold and the thermit reaction is initiated with a flint gun.
The exothermic reaction creates a molten braze metal which melts and runs down
through the mold and solidifies as a nugget, joining the CP cable to the pipe surface. Pin
brazing uses a hand held gun, which contains a metal stud tipped with a capsule of braze
metal. The gun is connected to a portable power supply, with a return lead connected to
the pipe. The capsule at the end of the stud is placed in contact with the pipe and when
the trigger on the gun is activated a high current discharge is passed between the stud
and the pipe, melting the brazing capsule and joining the stud to the pipe, Figure 31.
The CP cable can either be bolted to a threaded stud, or fitted with an end connector
which is trapped between a plain stud and the pipe.
Figure 31. Pin brazing equipment.
A disadvantage of both thermit brazing and pin brazing is that there is usually some
penetration of copper down the grain boundaries of the steel and the rapid thermal cycle
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may lead to a hard heat affected zone underneath the attachment. The BS4515 pipeline
welding standard includes guidance on the allowable limits of these features for the
purposes of procedure qualification of the equipment. Intergranular penetration of
copper is restricted to 0.5mm beyond the fusion boundary of the braze material and
maximum hardness levels between 275HV10 and 325HV10 are specified, depending on
the pipe wall thickness and the type of service.
Finally if these techniques are not applicable, conducting epoxy resins are available to
join CP cable to the pipe, although in this case the standard of surface preparation is
important to ensure long term integrity.
Pipe Supports
Pipe supports, such as fillet welded saddle supports are another example of welded
connections which are often overlooked when it comes to proper design and
construction. Problems have been experienced with toe cracks which run under the fillet
welds, Fortunately in most cases these run parallel with the pipe surface and can be
ground out within the allowable grinding limits.
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5.1.9 Inspection
5.1.9.1 Defect Acceptance Standards

For high pressure oil and gas transmission pipelines the current inspection philosophy
adopted by most operators is to ensure that every girth weld is inspected by a non
destructive examination (NDE) technique during pipeline construction. This does not
mean that every weld is defect free, since all international and company field welding
specifications allow some defects to remain in the weld without the need for repair.
Insistence on defect-free welds would lead to either very slow welding rates, or very
high repair rates. In the case of the former, there would be a need to take extreme care in
setting up the components for welding, and a slow welding speed would have to be used
to ensure no defects are produced in the first place. In the second case, if normal high
production rate welding techniques were used, then the inevitable weld defects which
result would all need to be repaired. Weld repairs are usually carried out behind the
front end of a land pipeline spread, and as such do not slow down the progress of
construction. However, they still consume unnecessary effort and expense and also
repair welds increase the residual stress locally in the joint, and they may themselves
contain defects as they may be made under less than ideal conditions.
It is, therefore, preferable to be able to accept limited amounts of defect in the weld
without the need for repair, and girth welding specifications such as API1104 and
BS4515 contain defect acceptance limits which are based on ‘good workmanship’
considerations. In other words the acceptable defect levels are based, not on what
defects the weld can tolerate without failure, but rather on what standard a reasonably
competent welder ought to be able to achieve, given the production rate desired.
Historically, high production rate manual stovepipe welding has been used for most
pipeline construction and the workmanship defect acceptance levels in the
specifications reflect this - ie. the defect types and extent are those relevant to this
welding technique. Ideally, there should be a separate workmanship standard for each
type of welding process (e.g. SMAW, semi automatic FCAW, or mechanised GMAW)
to match the defect sizes and frequencies to the skill levels and types of defect
associated with the particular technique. However, in most cases the existing SMAW
workmanship levels are universally applied, regardless of the welding procedure which
is being used.
It is possible to relax the workmanship defect acceptance levels, often by significant

amounts, without prejudicing the integrity of the pipeline. Engineering Critical
Assessment (ECA) procedures to do this are well established, and most codes include
guidance on this approach, either as Appendices (e.g. API1104 Appendix A), or by
reference to separate documents (e.g. BS4515 refers to PD6493). This approach is not
usually adopted for routine welds in new construction but can be very useful in
minimising the need for repair of welds with difficult access, or defective welds
discovered in-service.
It is appropriate to question the reason for this - if the defects derived from ECA do not
affect pipeline integrity why not allow them in the first place? The answer is
complicated. In the first place a full ECA assessment is expensive and only applies to
the individual weld under consideration, since the input factors for the ECA assessment,
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such as toughness and applied stress, may vary from weld to weld. Secondly, if ECA is
applied from the outset then any defect growth in service may mean that the weld
immediately requires repair. Finally, human nature is such that any relaxation in the
workmanship defect limits will almost always result in a general lowering of standards,
with possible unforeseen adverse effects due to a general disregard for other welding
procedure requirements. For these reasons, the workmanship defect acceptance levels
are usually used for initial construction, and the ECA approach is normally held in
reserve for special situations.
A compromise approach to girth weld defect acceptance has recently been taken by the
European Pipeline Research Group (EPRG). The EPRG guidelines allow a three tier
approach, the first tier of which is the usual workmanship defect acceptance level,
whilst the second tier allows larger defects based on a partial ECA approach. This
partial approach to ECA means that no calculations are needed and only a simple
Charpy notch toughness test is specified (since correlation's between Charpy toughness
and real weld behaviour have been made for most girth weld situations). However, the
allowable defect limits in EPRG Tier 2, although greater than the workmanship limits in
Tier 1, are still very conservative. The third tier, therefore, involves the full ECA
approach, when the stressing of the individual weld must be considered, and Crack Tip
Opening Displacement (CTOD) test must be carried out to allow individual calculations
to be made. The overall philosophy is that Tier 1 can be used at the outset of
construction, a relaxation to Tier 2 could be used for problems arising during
construction (possibly with an economic penalty for the Contractor, to prevent a
deliberate relaxation of standards), and Tier 3 could be applied to defects found in
service which are outside the limits of Tier 2.
Besides the defect acceptance standard, another important factor which influences the
integrity of the pipeline is the frequency and sensitivity of girth weld inspection. Most
operators currently insist on 100% (NDE) of every weld. However, NDE is only part of
the quality assurance procedure. The starting point is to use good quality materials
(welding consumables linepipe, fittings etc.), with proven performance and weldability,
then to use a suitably qualified welding procedure, and also to use qualified welders.
During construction, adequate supervision should be applied, with visual inspection of
the welding operation, and spot checks of the welding procedure variables being carried
out by qualified welding inspectors. If these procedures are followed it is unlikely that
grossly defective welds will be present in the pipeline and it could be argued that only
spot check NDE is required. However, experience when using 10% gamma radiography
for pipeline girth weld inspection in the 1960’s demonstrated that it was possible to
miss many defective welds and 100% X ray inspection then became the norm. This
practice has continued ever since but, as pipeline materials and quality assurance
procedures have improved considerably since this time, there may now be a case for
reviewing the need for 100% NDE in some situations.
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5.1.9.2 Defect Types
Defects which occur in pipeline girth welds can be:
• those which are due to human error such as poor workmanship, or failure to
follow qualified procedures.
• those which are due to poor materials, such as defective pipe or welding
consumables.
• those which are due to external influences, such as poor weather conditions or
excessive handling stresses during pipelaying.
• those which are due to a progressive cause such as corrosion or fatigue in
service.
Common defects, which are mainly from the first two categories, are shown in Figure
32a-s. Not shown in these diagrams are arc strikes, which are local hard spots on the
external surface of the pipe caused by accidental striking of the welding electrode on the
pipe surface rather than in the weld bevel. Arc strikes may also be caused by arcing
between the pipe and the welding return connection, or by the use of electrical prods for
magnetic particle examination. The use of probes has largely been superseded by
electromagnetic yokes and this problem is then avoided. Arc strikes are normally treated
by grinding them to remove any hardened layer, followed by magnetic particle
examination to ensure freedom from cracking.
Mismatch or ‘hi-lo’ (Figure 32a) is caused by ovality in the pipe or failure to use a
clamp, or adequately support the components before welding. Clamps will ‘round out’
some pipes, particularly those of high diameter/wall thickness ratio and low grade, but
not if the pipes are of heavy wall thickness or high strength. Excessive mismatch can be
associated with other defects, such as lack of penetration, as shown in Figure 32b.
External concavity, or lack of fill, Figure 32c, is caused by an insufficient number of

weld passes, and can occur at the 3 and 9o’clock positions especially if a stripper pass
(an additional filler pass over a small part of the pipe circumference to counteract
concavity) is not used.
Excess root penetration, Figure 32d, is caused by incorrect electrode manipulation and
travel speed (the welder controls the level of penetration of the root bead partly by
altering the angle of the welding electrode to close or open the ‘keyhole’).
Cap undercut is a region at the side of the cap where the pipe material has been melted
and washed away, leaving a groove, Figure 32e. This is caused by too high a welding
current and incorrect electrode manipulation.
Root undercut is similar to cap undercut but the groove is on the internal surface of the
pipe, Figure 32f.
Root concavity, or suck back is most common at the 6o’clock (overhead) position and is
caused by too high a current or the root gap being too large, Figure 32g. Usually this
defect is relatively unimportant provided the weld thickness is not reduced too much, as
it has a smooth profile.
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A burn through, or ‘window’, is a localised severe form of root concavity, caused when
the root bead weld pool fails to fill the keyhole formed during welding, leaving a small
hole in the root bead. This hole is then covered, but not filled by, the hot pass, leaving a
‘window’ shaped depression in the root bead, Figure 32h.
Lack of penetration is distinct from concavity in that the unmelted edges of the
machined root face are still visible, Figure 32i. This defect can be caused by too low a
welding current, wrong electrode angle, or too tight a root gap. This defect is normally
limited in depth to the depth of the root face, about 1.5mm.
Slag inclusions are body of the weld defects caused by too low a welding current or
incorrect cleaning of the weld bead surface between weld passes, Figure 32j. If these
inclusions are linear and on each side of the root bead, they are known as wagon tracks,
because of their appearance on the radiograph, Figure 32k. Wagon tracks are caused by
failure to grind the external surface of the root bead (which is normally convex)
sufficiently between weld passes so that the hot pass is unable to melt out any remaining
slag at the edges of the bead.
Lack of sidewall fusion is caused by insufficient melting of the faces of the weld
preparation, Figure 32l. This can be due to too low a welding current, too large a weld
pool, or wrong electrode angle. Mechanised GMAW welding systems are particularly
prone to this type of defect because of the steep angle of the weld bevel and the low
heat input welding system. The fact that the lack of sidewall fusion is tight and inclined
slightly to the radiographic beam means that it may not show up well on the radiograph.
However, lack of sidewall fusion is normally limited in depth to one weld run, and
provided this is the case ECA analyses often demonstrate that long lengths can remain
in the weld without posing a threat to the integrity of the pipeline.
Lack of interrun fusion occurs between weld passes, and so is normally at right angles
to the radiographic beam, making detection more difficult, Figure 32m.
Scattered porosity, Figure 32n, can be caused by too low or too high a moisture level in
the welding electrode flux covering (cellulosic electrodes need some moisture in the
coating to provide the shielding gas), or the welder holding too long an arc. If the
porosity is surface breaking it can also be caused by too much weaving of the electrode
or overheating of the weld pool. In the case of GMAW disruption or contamination of
the shielding gas can also result in porosity.
Cluster porosity, Figure 32o, can be caused by isolated contamination of the weld faces,
local loss of shielding gas, or failure to use the correct technique at the weld stop/start
positions. Elongated root porosity, or hollow bead, is caused by a failure of the weld to
outgas as it solidifies, Figure 32p. This is caused by too small a root gap, too fast a
welding speed, and sometimes by excessive amounts of some alloying elements in the
parent material.
Transverse hydrogen cracks, Figure 32q normally occur in the weld metal of high
strength steels and may lie on alternate 45o planes (hence the term ‘chevron’ cracks).
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They can be difficult to detect by radiography since they are usually very tight and are
aligned parallel with the natural ripples on the weld bead surface.
Longitudinal weld metal cracks, Figure 32r, can be due to hydrogen but are usually
solidification cracks caused by a high depth to width ratio weld bead shape, and/or
stress on the weld as it solidifies.
Root heat affected zone cracks, Figure 32s, are usually due to hydrogen, although they
can also be caused by excessive stress during the pipe ‘lift and lower’ operation.
Although they usually initiate and propagate for some way in the heat affected zone,
they can also turn into the weld metal further up through the weld thickness. Hydrogen
cracks are some of the most critical to the integrity of the girth weld because their extent
is unpredictable and they can be missed by radiography because of their orientation and
tightness.
The precautions adopted in the construction welding procedure to minimise hydrogen

cracks have already been mentioned (preheat, interpass temperature and time control
etc.). However, another cause of hydrogen cracks is the use of poor repair welding
procedures. It used to be the practice on large diameter pipes to repair any root defects
by single run back welds. Since these were of low heat input, and it was difficult to
apply preheat when carrying them out, hydrogen cracks were often introduced. It is now
common to specify the such welds should consist of at least two weld runs, in order that
some tempering of the heat affected zone in the pipe takes place.
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Figure 32a. Mismatch or hi-lo
Figure 32b. Mismatch with lack

of penetration.
Figure 32c. External concavity or

lack of fill.
Figure 32d. Excess penetration
Figure 32e. Cap undercut
Figure 32f. Root undercut
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Figure 32g. Root concavity.
Figure 32h. Burn through or

‘window’
Figure 32i. Lack of penetration
Figure 32j. Slag inclusions
Figure 32k. Elongated slag lines or

‘wagon tracks’
Figure 32l. Lack of sidewall fusion
Figure 32m. Lack of interrun

fusion
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Figure 32n. Scattered porosity
Figure 32o. Cluster porosity
Figure 32p. Root pass aligned

porosity, or ‘hollow bead’
Figure 32q. Transverse weld metal

crack
Figure 32r. Longitudinal weld metal

crack.
Figure 32s. Longitudinal root heat

affected zone crack
5.1.9.3 Visual Inspection
Visual inspection is a part of the overall inspection procedure that is often overlooked.
If the external appearance of the weld is neat, of smooth regular profile, and free from
arc strikes and undercut, then there is a high probability that the weld is of good quality.
In the case of pipeline girth welds, an experienced Welding Inspector can also tell the
welding direction and the type of electrode used, from a visual examination of the weld
cap profile. This helps to determine if there has been any deviation from the welding
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procedure. Visual inspection should also be applied during the welding operation as
well as at the end, since factors such as the standard of interpass weld cleaning can
influence the final weld quality.
There are a number of aids to visual inspection, including low power magnifying lenses,
and weld inspection gauges for the measurement of depth of undercut, cap height,
misalignment etc. Also available are borescopes and internal cameras, which can be
used to examine the root bead. These may be useful in the case of a disputed repair on
small diameter pipe where internal access is otherwise not possible.
5.1.9.4 Radiography
Characteristic pipeline defects, such as slag, porosity, undercut, lack of root penetration,
burn through's and arc strikes are three dimensional and can be found fairly easily by
radiography. Narrow, two dimensional defects, such as cracks, especially those which
are not aligned parallel to the radiographic beam, can be missed by radiography
especially if best practice is not used. Since three dimensional defects are less
significant than two dimensional defects from the point of view of structural integrity,
this failing would appear to be a major disadvantage of radiography. However,
radiography continues to be the main NDE technique applied to pipeline girth welds,
and the satisfactory performance of most pipelines suggests that it is effective. This is
probably because:
a) the improved weldability of modern materials means that cracking is now relatively
rare.
b) other techniques, such as internal examination of the root bead with magnetic particle
inspection may be used in conjunction with radiography to find cracking in susceptible
joints.
c) the deterrent effect of radiography is sufficient to encourage welders to follow the

qualified procedure and this reduces the chance of two dimensional defects as well as
three dimensional defects.
d) the use of qualified radiographic procedures and experienced interpreters means that
all of the significant defects can be usually be found.
Two forms of radiographic source are used, X ray and gamma ray. The former has
better sensitivity and is now normally specified for most girth weld inspection. The
latter requires less specialised equipment but has poorer sensitivity and can therefore
miss more defects, especially cracks. For this reason it is only used for special
applications, for example for single wall examination of welds in very small diameter
pipework, where the small size of the gamma source allows it to be placed inside the
pipe, and on very thick welds, where the greater penetrating power of gamma
radiography compared to X radiography is an advantage.
A variety of radiographic techniques may be used, depending on the pipe geometry and
the equipment available. For large diameter pipes the so-called panoramic technique is
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used, Figure 33, where the X ray source is placed centrally inside the pipe and the
radiographic film is placed in contact with the outside surface of the pipe.
Figure 33.
Panoramic Radiography
FILM
S = Source of radiation
F = Focus-to-film or
Source-to-film distance
For long pipelines the X ray source is built into a crawler, so that the source can be
carried along the pipeline from one girth weld to the next, Figure 34. The crawler is
designed to stop when it recognises a signal from a low strength gamma radiation
source which is placed on the outside of the pipe at the weld to be examined. The
radiographic film is then wrapped around the outside of the girth weld and exposed to
the radiographic beam from the crawler, before being developed. The crawler than
moves along to the next girth weld and the process is repeated.
Figure 34. Internal pipeline crawler.
The panoramic technique gives a rapid result (one exposure). However it may
sometimes be necessary to use the opposite approach, by placing the source outside the
pipe and the film in contact with the weld root on the inside wall of the pipe, Fig 35.
This is the single wall single image technique (SWSI) and is used when the pipe
diameter is too small to give the correct focal length for an internally placed X ray
source, or access to the centre of the pipe bore for the X ray source is restricted.
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Figure 35.
Single Wall Single

Image Radiography.
FILM
F
S = Source of radiation
F = Focus-to-film or
Source-to-film distance
If no access at all to the bore of the pipe is possible, e.g. when radiographing a tie-in
weld or a girth weld in an in-service pipeline, then a double wall technique has to be
used. The simplest technique is the double wall single image technique (DWSI),
whereby the source is placed remotely from the pipe surface on one side of the pipe,
slightly offset from the weld, and the film is placed in contact with the external surface
of the weld on the opposite side of the pipe, so that a single image of the weld adjacent
to the film is produced, Fig 36.
FILM
FILM X
°
90
X SECTION ON X-X
S S
F
S = SOURCE OF RADIATION
/5 F = FOCUS-TO-FILM OR
SOURCE-TO-FILM DISTANCE
Figure 36. Double Wall Single Image Radiography
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For small diameter pipe (less than 90mm) the DWSI technique is not applicable and the
double wall double image (DWDI) technique is used. This is similar to DWSI but the
film is flat and is placed tangential to the pipe, so that it is only in contact with the weld
at one point rather than over its whole length. The source is again offset but is placed so
that images of both the near and far weld sections is produced alongside each other on
the one film, Fig 37. Single wall radiographic techniques give radiographic results
which are easier to interpret than double wall techniques and are to be preferred where
applicable.
FILM FILM (OFFSET)

X
°
90
X SECTION ON X-X
S S
F
/5
Figure 37 .Double Wall Double Image Radiography
The quality of the radiographic image depends on many factors, such as the source to
film distance, the energy of the source and the exposure time, the grain size of the film,
and the film developing conditions. The important criterion is the resulting sensitivity of
the radiograph and this can be measured by placing a penetrameter, or image quality
indicator (IQI) alongside the weld during the exposure of the film. The DIN IQI consists
of pairs of wires of decreasing diameter trapped inside a plastic holder. The sensitivity
is assessed from the finest IQI wire which can be recognised on the film and should be
compared with the allowable values given in the specification, for the appropriate wall
thickness and radiographic technique used. The density of the radiograph should also be
measured using a densitometer and compared with the allowable range in the
specification.
Interpretation of radiographs requires care and experience. The film viewing conditions
should be correct with regard to film illumination and background lighting, and the
inspector should allow some time for his eyes to become adjusted to the level of
illumination before reading the radiograph. A knowledge of the cause and distribution
of weld defects is necessary to interpret the two dimensional image of what is usually a
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three dimensional defect. Some features in particular can cause confusion. One of these
is the root bead slag intrusion, a surface breaking feature of limited depth found at the
edge of the root bead which occurs occasionally when using cellulosic electrodes, Fig
38. It is often difficult to distinguish this feature on a radiograph from a root bead
hydrogen crack, or fine lack of root fusion (missed edge) and in some cases it may be
necessary to ‘grind and investigate’ the defect to see if it disappears within acceptable
metal removal limits.
Figure 38.
Root bead slag intrusion
A recent development has been the introduction of real time radiography, ie. the
replacement of the photographic film with some type of low light level video camera so
that the image can be viewed in real time, or near real time. This technique also allows
the image to be digitised, so that it can be enhanced electronically, and also stored
electronically, for example on CD ROM. In the case of disputed defects, the image can
be studied in real time whilst the source is moved in relation to the weld, in order to
bring defects in and out of focus.
Real time radiography does currently have a number of disadvantages, notably most
systems are not truly real time, near real time would be a better description. Also the
resolution is not usually as good as film radiography because it is related to the size and
number of the pixels on the screen. The use of real time radiography on offshore lay
barges has been restricted by the problems caused to the cameras by the radiated heat
from the weld. It has, however, seen limited use for the inspection of root beads in
corrosion resistant alloy pipe part way through the welding operation on a laybarge. It
has not seen much use so far on land pipelines.
5.1.9.5 Ultrasonic Examination
Manual ultrasonic examination can be used as an aid to interpret a radiographic

indication, especially on thick wall pipe. The manual version is not suitable for use as
the primary inspection technique for pipeline girth welds since it is slow and dependent
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to a large degree on operator interpretation. Also the degree of operator concentration
involved is very great and this can give rise to inconsistent results, between operators,
or even between examinations when using the same operator. It is not suited, therefore,
to making a large number of routine inspections, such as would be required on a
pipeline spread.
The interpretation of root bead indications in SMAW girth welds is also difficult with
manual ultrasonics since mismatch, root undercut, excess penetration, and root
hydrogen cracks can all give rise to similar reflections. In order to accurately position
the defect, assumptions must be made about the exact length of the beam path from the
probe to the weld root and this is difficult unless the outside surface of the pipe is
marked in some way before welding to indicate the distance from the weld bevel. Even
then the root gap with a manual welded joint can vary around the circumference and
from weld to weld, so that accurate defect location with respect to the finished root bead
profile is difficult.
When mechanised GMAW welding processes are used, the weld fit up and the resultant
weld geometry are much more consistent. Also one of the most common types of defect
found in mechanised GMAW welds is lack of sidewall fusion, Fig 39. These defects are
tight and aligned at a slight angle to the through thickness direction. As such they can be
missed by radiography, but lend themselves to detection by ultrasonics.
Figure 39. Lack of sidewall fusion

in mechanised GMAW weld.
Multiprobe mechanised ultrasonic systems have been developed which run on the same
track as the mechanised GMAW welding carriages, Figure 40. This means that the
location of the probes with respect to the weld bevel is known and the defects can be
identified by their position in the weld. Such systems have been used extensively on
large diameter mechanised GMAW welded pipelines, initially in conjunction with
radiography, but more recently as the primary inspection technique. A major advantage
of such techniques is that they can operate just 6 welds or so behind the front end of the
pipeline and therefore there is a rapid feedback on weld quality compared to
radiography, where a whole days production (possibly more than 100 welds) may
welded before the radiographs are taken and interpreted.
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Figure 40. Mechanised ultrasonic
system for pipeline girth weld
inspection.
5.1.9.6 Magnetic Particle Inspection
Magnetic particle inspection (MPI) is only suitable for the detection of surface breaking
defects, and so cannot be used as the primary inspection method for girth welds. Where
access is available it may be used, however, as a support to radiography for the
inspection of root beads in order to confirm freedom from hydrogen cracking. On pipe
750mm diameter and greater, MPI has been used in the past by one operator to inspect
the root bead from inside the pipe at the 12 and 6 o’clock positions, where the danger of
hydrogen cracking is greatest. However, because of the improved weldability of modern
linepipe this type of inspection has now been discontinued. It is still used to inspect the
root bead of butt welded pipeline fittings, since the weldability of fittings has not
improved significantly compared to linepipe.
The inspection of fillet welds is not possible with radiography, and it is difficult with
ultrasonics because of the subjective nature of the technique. Therefore, MPI is used to
inspect the fillet welds on attachments such as weldolets, CP connections, pipe supports,
hot tap split tees etc. This inspection will only confirm freedom from surface breaking
defects. The body of the weld is not usually inspected, since most of these fillet welds
are multipass welds. Any buried defects in such welds would, therefore, be expected to
be limited to one weld run in depth (about 3mm) and therefore not significant
structurally.
5.1.11 Coating and Wrapping
Following welding and inspection, uncoated parts of the pipeline should be coated to a
standard at least as good as that of the main pipe coating.
Depending on the type of factory applied coating on the main pipe, this field coating
may consist of :
• fusion bonded epoxy coatings
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• cold applied tape
• multi component liquid coatings (urethanes)
• shrink wrapped sleeves
For further details of these systems see Module 4A, Section 4.4.1.
5.1.12 Special Situations - Tunnelling, Thrust Boring, Directional Drilling, Crossings, Tie-
ins, Pig traps.
Tunnelling for the installation of pipelines may consist of small bore thrusting, auger
boring, pipe jacking, and horizontal drilling. One of the primary considerations when a
pipeline is installed in a casing or a tunnel is to ensure that the anticorrosion coating is
not damaged, since it is very difficult to inspect and repair the pipeline in the future.
Road and rail and river crossings are normally treated as special sections, the pipeline
being laid by the spread technique up to the crossing point, the crossing then being
fabricated and installed, and then the crossing section being tied in to the main pipeline
in the final stages.
Road crossings are normally made by open cut, boring, or tunnelling methods. Of these
methods, open cut methods are likely to disrupt the traffic flow to the greatest extent
and careful planning is required. Construction is progressed by excavating half the road
width, whilst using traffic lights to control the traffic. The excavated width can be
covered by steel plates to allow traffic flow whilst the process is repeated on the other
side of the trench. The pipe can then be inserted and backfilled, using marker slabs to
indicate the pipe location and to provide protection against third party interference
damage.
River crossings may be made by open cut, boring, directional drilling, or tunnelling
methods. Where the open cut method is used, provision should be made for a temporary
bypass to maintain water flow. The pipe should also be laid at a sufficient depth to
allow for future bed movement, and possible operations such as dredging. There may
also be a need to provide negative buoyancy of the pipe by a means such as concrete
weight coating.
If concrete weight coating is not used it may be necessary to provide protection above
the pipeline over the length of the crossing by means of concrete slabs. It is also normal
practice to bury the pipe at a greater depth in a river crossing, e.g 1.65m, compared to
that required on land, typically 1.1m.
Thrust boring involves digging thrust and reception pits either side of the crossing to a
depth suitable for the desired pipeline depth. Thrusting may be carried out either with
sleeving pipe, which then acts as a host pipe for the main carrier pipe, or directly with
heavier wall carrier pipe if ground conditions are good. The pipe or sleeve is jacked
forward through the ground using hydraulic jacks acting against the back wall of the
thrusting pit. The material inside the thrust pipe is progressively removed and new
lengths of pipe are welded onto the thrust pipe. Thrusting continues until the thrust pipe
enters the reception pit.
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If sleeved pipe is used, the carrier pipe is installed with appropriate spacers and the
annulus is sealed with bentonite or grout.
Auger boring uses similar thrust and reception pits but a rotating cutting edge is placed
at the leading edge of the pipe and the augering machine is suspended from a crane. The
machine winches itself off the leading edge of the thrust pit. Since the hole is cut rather
than driven through the ground there is less pipe damage and carrier pipe can be used
directly, provided it can be adequately checked for damage afterwards.
Directional drilling involves using technology similar to that used for offshore well
drilling. A small diameter hole is drilled from one side of the crossing to the other using
a directed drill string, with the drill tip entering and emerging from the ground on each
side of the crossing at a shallow angle. The drill bit is then replaced with a reaming head
and this is pulled back through the previous hole, enlarging it to the finished pipe
diameter as it goes. The pipe is connected to the reaming head via a universal joint and
this is pulled back through the enlarged hole at the same time. The ease with which the
pipe is pulled into the hole can be increased by pumping bentonite slurry along the drill
string to the reamer head. Crossings of several hundred metres in length can be made
using this technique.
5.1.13 Trenching
Trial holes will have been made along the pipeline right of way to determine the ground
conditions and the depth of the top soil. Where ground conditions are good, excavation
of the trench is normally carried out after the pipeline string has been welded together.
The top layer of topsoil, if present, should be excavated and stacked separately from the
subsoil (double ditching) and the trench excavated to allow a depth of cover on the
pipeline of not less than 1.1-1.2m from the original surface. The trench width should
exceed the pipe diameter to allow proper backfilling and compaction. The bottom
corners of the ditch should be graded to ensure that the full width of the ditch is
available to provide slack in the line when laid. The bottom of the ditch should be free
from hard pieces of clay, rocks, debris etc which might damage the pipe or its coating.
Where the material in the trench bottom is such that it may damage the pipeline a bed of
sand approximately 150mm thick is laid in the bed of the trench.
Minor variations in land contour are usually excavated in order to minimise the amount
of field bending. It is important to ensure that there is sufficient consolidation of the
trench material to provide adequate support to the pipeline and to ensure that pipes are
evenly bedded along their length. For large diameter pipes, shaped pipe beds may be
required to reduce the chance of ovality when the backfill is introduced into the trench.
Care should be taken during excavation, to adopt appropriate safe excavation

techniques, and to ensure the stability of excavations. Also care should be taken to
ensure that other buried plant is not damaged and that the minimum amount of damage
or disturbance is caused to land drains. The position of all services and land drains,
affected by pipeline construction, should be carefully marked at the edges of the ROW.
Where it is necessary to use explosives, for example to make an excavation in rock, the
Statutory Regulations regarding their storage and use should be adhered to. Precautions
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should be taken to ensure that blasting debris is not scattered outside of the right of way,
and methods such as backfilling the trench, matting the charged area, or using
strategically placed and shaped charges should be adopted where necessary.
If the pipe is to be laid directly into the rock excavation a 150mm thick sand bed might
be used to protect the pipe, as described above. However, on some projects the pipe
coating thickness has been increased instead, so that it can resist damage better. This
allows the option to use crushed and screened rock as the bedding material, and thus
saves on the cost and environmental impact of importing large quantities of sand.
5.1.14 Lowering in
Before ditching the pipe should be subject to a holiday detection survey. A ‘holiday’ is
a break or pinhole in the coating integrity, caused by mechanical damage or incorrect
application, which could act as a site for future corrosion. The holiday detector is
normally a metallic brush (or sometimes a carbon impregnated neoprene) which is
connected to a portable high voltage power supply, the pipe being connected to the
other side of the supply. A potential of several thousand volts may be used, depending
on the coating thickness. The brush, which may circular on small diameter pipes or
curved to suit the pipe diameter on large diameter pipes, is moved along the pipe by
hand and a, audible and visual signal is produced when a holiday is found and a current
flows through it.
Any holidays which are detected should be repaired with a suitable field repair kit and
the location of the repairs recorded in the construction records.
Also before ditching the pipe, the trench bottom should be inspected for rocks and
debris which might damage the pipeline coating.
The pipeline is normally picked up by a series of sideboom tractors which hold the pipe
in slings and place it centrally in the ditch. Careful co-ordination of the sidebooms is
necessary to ensure that the pipeline is not overstressed during this operation and that no
damage to the coating occurs. The sidebooms leapfrog along the pipeline snaking the
pipe into the ditch as they go.
5.1.15 Backfilling and Reinstatment
Backfill material should be chosen so that it does not damage the pipe and if necessary
imported backfill material may be needed. The backfill should be carefully consolidated
around the sides of the pipe to provide adequate support. In some areas special
techniques may be required. For example, at tees there may be a need to provide
foundations or stronger bedding in order to prevent strains on the pipe caused by
differential settlement of the main pipe and the branch pipeline. Also in areas of high
water content, e.g. marshland, there may be a need to provide concrete weight coating
on the pipe to prevent it from floating.
Reinstatment is an increasingly important part of pipeline construction since the results

of this part of the construction process are the only parts of the pipeline which the
public sees. This phase of the work involves removing debris, replacing field drains,
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hedges, fencing, footpaths and topsoil. It may also be necessary to provide drainage at
low points along the pipeline since the pipeline trench will also act as a drain.
It is normal to ‘rip’ the top soil to a depth of around 300mm in order to break up any
compaction caused by construction plant and to ensure good drainage.
The pipeline is identified by marker posts at field boundaries to enable the route to be
followed during future foot and aerial surveys.
5.2 REFERENCES
1. IGE/TD/1 Edition 3 : 1993 Steel Pipelines for High Pressure Gas Transmission.
2. API RP 5L1
3. API RP5L5
4. AS2885
5. API 1104 Welding of Pipelines and Related Facilities, American Petroleum
Institute.
6. BS4515 Welding of Steel Pipelines on Land and Offshore, British Standards
Institute.
7. K PROSSER, B A CASSIE, Field welding and service experience with gas
transmission pipelines, International Conference ‘Steels for linepipe and pipeline
fittings’ London October 1981.
8. G WILLETS, Construction and Commissioning of the Scotland to Northern
Ireland Natural Gas Pipeline, Pipes and Pipelines International, May-June 1998 5-
11
9. C PUNSHON, A BELLONI, Reduced Pressure EB Welding for Offshore
Pipelines, Conference on Joining and Welding for the Oil and Gas Industry, London
30-31 October 1997.
10.J HAMMOND, A Review of One Shot Welding Processes, Conference on Joining
and Welding for the Oil and Gas Industry, London 30-31 October 1997.
11.R W CARNES, Advances in Homopolar Welding of API Linepipe for
Deepwater Applications, Conference on Joining and Welding for the Oil and Gas
Industry, London 30-31 October 1997.
12.D RUSSELL, Development of Laser Technology for Welding in the Oil and Gas
Industries, Conference on Joining and Welding for the Oil and Gas Industry,
London 30-31 October 1997.
13.R F LUMB, Inspection of Pipelines using Non-Destructive Techniques, Physics
in Technology, 249-256 November 1997.
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PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

5.1 STEEL PIPELINES ........................................................................................................ 138

5.2 REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 190

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

5.1 STEEL PIPELINES

• care should be taken to prevent damage to the environment and, on completion of

• all construction work should be inspected by competent inspectors to ensure

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

Figure 1. View along the spread from pipeline front end.

5.1.2 Transport and Care of Materials

• damage to pipe coatings should be avoided by using cushioned packing and by

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

• storage of materials beneath overhead power lines should be avoided in order to

On major projects overseas, particularly those in remote locations, it is more common to

5.1.3 Preparing the Right of Way

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

In areas of environmental concern, special precautions may be necessary, for example

5.1.4 Pipe Stringing and Cold Field Bending

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

Figure 3. Typical field bending machine.

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

5.1.5 Handling Damage

Ovality is defined as (Dmax-Dmin)/Dave x 100 where Dmax is the maximum outside

• the height is less than 25% of the nominal thickness.

• the width of the base is greater than 8 times the height.

• they blend smoothly with the adjacent surface.

Dents may be acceptable if :

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

• they do not impede the passage of pigs through the pipeline.

5.1.5.5 Laminations, End Bevel Damage

5.1.6 End caps

5.1.7 Site Welding

• they should not require a high level of welder skill.

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

5.1.7.1 Site Welding Processes

5.1.7.1.1 Shielded Metal Arc Welding

These techniques are shown in Figure 4

Figure 4. Manual welding methods for pipeline girth welds.

(a) a heat source (in this case the electric arc).

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

The importance of these various components is described below :

The electric arc

Protection for the arc and weld pool

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

5.1.7.1.1.1 Electrode types

Basic (Low Hydrogen) Electrodes

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

5.1.7.1.1.2 Welding techniques

Figure 6. Weld deposition sequence

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

1.5 +- 10 mm 2.4 +- 00.8 mm

5.1.7.1.1.3 Welding Procedure

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

Preheat temperatures and, weld interpass times

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

5.1.7.1.1.4 Production Welding

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

Figure 8. Use of internal alignment clamp to set up pipes for welding.

PIPELINE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS & WELDING MODULE: ONSHORE

Figure 10. Lowering off pipe onto supports.