Pipe Dream

Over 60% by weight of all battle supplies consists of oil and gasoline. The early desert campaigns convinced soldiers that old methods of distributing this colossal load under fire were too slow and vulnerable. In use this week in Italy, after a North African debut, was the Army's battle-tested successor: portable pipelines.

New Twist. For maximum portability the Army's engineers and industrial experts designed light-gauge (4 or 6 in.) steel pipe spirally constructed, like a soda straw. A 20-ft. section weighs less than 100 Ib. Sections are joined by special couplings which can be fitted in a minute.

Complementing the pipes are collapsible storage tanks and skid-mounted pumping stations which can be readily moved. Average capacity is 5,000 bbl. a day. One mile of the line and its auxiliary equipment weighs 13 tons, less than half the weight of a regular pipeline of equal capacity. A thousand feet of this pipe can easily be handled by one Army truck and crew.

New Efficiency. The portable pipeline is the supply officer's dream. It cuts down road traffic, is much less vulnerable than a string of trucks.

A 100-lb. bomb must hit within four feet of an above-ground length of pipe to put it out of operation. If it does, pressure gauges locate the rupture, pumping stations stop the flow, and repairs can be made in a few minutes.

Most important, the line can usually be laid faster than an embattled army can advance. Last week in mountainous southern Italy, where regular fuel transport would have bogged down, Army pipeline engineers were impatiently waiting for Cassino to be taken so they could extend their system northward.

Training of Engineer Petroleum Distribution Units is being rushed by the Army Service Forces in a special area at Camp Claiborne, La. So important have the pipelines become that the Army Engineers' priority list puts only bulldozers and steel airfield mats ahead of them.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.