DRILLING 3 PIPELINES UNDER
COOS BAY, WATER, SEWER, GAS
This is a story by George E. Gebhardt on drilling 3 pipelines under Coos Bay. All lines start on the Empire side and end up on the North Spit. I followed the 5+ months when Henkel-McCoy struggled to put the big 24" O.D. neoprene water pipeline and the 12" I.D. natural gas line, 3,400' under the Bay. Both lines ended up along the NORTH fence of the former Anadramous Fish Farm on the North Spit. The Coos Bay North Bend Waterboard reported the total cost of the water line, including engineering and drilling was $800,000. When connected on the North Spit this will allow two things: An Alternate or dual water source to augment the 16" line that now comes across the McCullough Bridge and enhance fire fighting capabilities.

Nothing was reported on the cost of the 12" natural gas line which runs parallel to the water line. This was an independent project of NW Natural Gas. The final ends of the pipelines shown in the pictures are now connected and buried but not yet in service. Henkel-McCoy completed their job in March 2,005 and moved out.

The City fathers hired Mead Const. from Michigan to bring in their horizontal drill rig in April 2,005. They set up at the foot of Newmark Ave about 150' South of the other two completed drill holes. They did the job in less than 1 month. Bravo! By directional drilling, this line came out on the SOUTH side of the former Fish Farm. Total estimated cost for the City's 8" I.D. neoprene "raw" sewer line was $674,000. This will save a lot of money in the future as it will NOT be necessary to bulild a sewerage treatment plant on the North Spit, as it develops. The line was paid for by multiple partners who care about the Coos Area and see the need to create well paying jobs.

The same group was in hopes they could drill a fourth, 24" line to carry City wastewater from the Main Land to the North Spit and thence to the existing ocean outfall that was used by Weyerhaeuser Pulp Mill. However, the bid for this line was $1,638,500 which was way over budget and therefore the plan was scrapped.

Why am I writing all this? First of all, the public should know about the cost and the terrific effort of punching three pipelines, 3,400' long and deep beneath the bottom of the Bay. Most important they should know what a great benefit these three pipelines will serve in bringing new industry of all kinds to the North Spit. Those who arranged for the drilling and the completion of the project should be highly commended for their diligence and foresight. George E. Gebhardt Phone 541-888-5144

START DRILLING UNDER BAY.
This is George Gebhardt standing in front of large horizontal directional drill. I also made a video of the drilling operation. See Camera on tripod. March 2,005

24" NEOPRENE PIPE IS FUSE
WELDED WITHOUT CONNECTORS
A closeup of the water line, on the North Spit. See how thick the heavy Neoprene pipe is. Once the joints are fuse welded together, they are extremely strong.

ELECTRIC WELDER FUSES PIPE
This is the 3,400' fresh water line (very heavy) Neoprene pipe, two feet O.D. Pipe is 50' long and this machine, fuse welds the joints together as there are no connectors. The pipe rides on rollers to give it support while pulling it under the Bay.

REAMER ENLARGES HOLE TO
ACCOMODATE 24" LARGE PIPE.
While reaming the hole to make it larger, they pull 5 joints at a time before disconnecting. This saves hours of drill time as it takes 30 minutes to break a single drill pipe. .

BIG PIPE IS COMPLETED AND
AWAITS HOOKUP ON EMPIRE SIDE.
A close up of the 24" neoprene fresh water line that will serve as an alternative or dual system in supplying fresh water to the main land.

2ND DRILL PIPE LIES AT THE FOOT
OF NEWMARK. IS CONNECTED TODAY
The finished 8" "raw" sewer line on the Empire side, will allow sewerage from the dunes to be delivered directly to the Empire treatment plant. .This is drill sight No. 2 at the far West end of Newmark in Empire. This open end pipe is buried and connected today.

GEORGE MADE THIS SKETCH WHICH
SHOWS THE DRILL PIPE 50' BELOW
THE BOTTOM OF COOS BAY CHANNEL
This is a closeup of the two drill sites. Henkle McCoy was set up for 5 months at Site One and had lots of problems. Mead Const. set up at Site Two and punched the sewer line across in only one month.

May 2,005. Today there are 3 pipelines under Coos Bay from Empire to the North Spit; as follows. #1, George is standing by 24" Neoprene fresh water pipe. # 2 is a 12" Natural Gas Line. #3 is a 10" neoprene sewer line. At present all 3 lines have been connected on the Empire side, but are not active. href='http://www.hello.com/' target='ext'>

SNAKING BIG PIPE UNDER BAY.
On North Spit. Road was blocked, so walked to S. end of Anadramous Fish Plant. The very heavy neoprene pipe is supported for 3,200' on rollers. Water is being pumped inside while it is snaked under the Bay. Impressed by the weight and strfength of the neoprene pipe.

PIPE MAKES RIGHT ANGLE TURN.
The 10" sewer pipeline is supported on rollers as it is snaked under the Bay. Here we make a right angle turn so a Nylon sling and the backhoe jerk it around the corner. It is a miracle this pipe holds together on itrs 3,200 foot journey under the Bay. The drill hole is 50' below the bottom of Bay.

DRILL RIG, EMPIRE, PULLS PIPE THRU
Empire Side. A good shot of the drill rig. This coupling is used to pull 3,200' of 10" ID Sewer pipeline under the Bay. This line will save a lot of money as it will eliminate a future sewer treatment plant on the North Spit. The 3 pipelines are for industry on N.Spit.

END OF PROJECT. NOW THREE
LINES DRILLED UNDER COOS BAY.
The horizontal drig rig is set up on the Empire side. After 30 days drilling and enlarging the hole, on April 24, 2,005 they successfully pulled 3,200 feet of neoprfene sewer line under the Bay. There are now 3 pipelines running under the Bay

STOCK PILE OF 24" NEOPRENE
JOINTS ARE FUSED ELECTRICALLY
On North Spit, these are neoprene pipes, 50 feet in lenght with 24" outside diameter. This pipe will carry fresh water from the dunes to the Mainland. 3,400' of this pipe was pulled under the bay to Empire in March 2,005.There are no joints to the pipe. They are heat welded or fused together.

BACKHOE ALIGNS PIPE UNDER BAY
Still on the North Spit. the 3200 ft. pipe is supported on rollers as it is fed under the Bay. The backhoe has a sling that lifts the pipe to move it around like a snake.

LAST JOINT DISAPPEARS UNDER BAY
North spit, pulling this 10" ID pipeling under the Bay to Empire. 3200 feet total length. It's made of neoprene.