In our programs, we encourage questions from the participants. As our policy is "if we don't know the answer, and one exists, we'll find it for you", sometimes we end up doing a bit more research than we anticipated. Not that we mind - something new is learned in the process. To illustrate...
Was wooden pipe ever used in gas distribution? One of the retirees at my company swore it was. I think he's pulling my leg.
Or, maybe not. I have run across three examples, photographing two of them (Portsmouth (Virginia) Gas Company, Consolidated Edison of New York and Peoples Gas in Chicago). Although there is some question as to whether the Peoples Gas example was actually in gas distribution service, the other two examples showed signs of the internal tarry buildup associated with manufactured gas. All three examples probably date from the 1870s or earlier.
Why wood? In the mid-1800s, cast iron and steel were in great demand for railroads, ships and miltary equipment. It wasn't unusual for water or sewer systems to use wooden pipe, even though wood was being phased out for these purposes. The local gas utility probably used wood water pipe, as this was commonly available in smaller sizes.
The examples I ran across were probably fabricated from a bored eight foot section of redwood or Douglas fir log and banded with steel to help contain the internal pressure. Bell and spigot end connections were used to connect the sections together. Pitch or asphalt was used to coat the pipe to prevent deterioration.
Why is the LNG tank in Boston painted the way it is?
Keyspan Energy certainly has one of the more colorful LNG storage tanks at their Dorchester facility in Boston. The tank design is actually a reproduction of an earlier work by Corita Kent, commissioned by the Boston Gas Company in 1971 for one of two 1.16 BCF (billion cubic feet) tanks then at this location. In 1992, the tank with the original design was torn down; the design was reproduced on the remaining tank. Here is a slide I took of the original tank shortly before its decommissioning.
In the original design, some people say that
the left
side of outline of the blue band resembles the North Vietnamese leader
Ho Chi Minh. Having never met that gentleman, I can't say...