Underground Infrastructure - January 2023 - 23

TULSAPIPE LINERS
Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa Celebrates
75th Anniversary, History of Service
The Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa (PLCT) recently celebrated its
75th anniversary. Tulsa's Mayor G. T. Bynum marked the occasion
with a proclamation acknowledging PLCT's many contributions
to the city's economy and culture.
In addition to focusing on the organization's longevity and
long-time benefit to the city's economy, the proclamation honored
the pipeline construction industry for its ongoing efforts
to educate, train and grow the next-generation workforce by
awarding scholarships to aspiring young students.
The scholarship program awards $150,000 annually and is
funded by PLCT's 400-plus membership through events such
as golf and sporting clay tournaments. Members of the organization
include a wide range of industry professionals from companies
such as Williams, ONEOK, Magellan and many area
pipeline construction, service and manufacturing companies.
The mayor's proclamation came during what has become
known as Pipe Liners Week in Tulsa. It is a special recognition
of an industry that remains a significant economic driver in a
city once known as the " Oil Capital of the World. "
PLCT's long history began in 1947. With World War II in
the rearview mirror, the industrial sector of the United States
was transitioning from wartime manufacturing of weaponry to
producing consumer products on an unprecedented scale. This
would usher in a peacetime economy of prosperity for the United
States and, more specifically, the petroleum industry as a whole.
Automobiles, gas stoves, home heating furnaces and other
products requiring petroleum were being absorbed by a robust
economy fueled by an affluent middleclass. This would bode
particularly well for the pipeline industry. The decades following
this uniquely historic period would produce thousands of
miles of pipelines crisscrossing the country in order to keep up
with the increasing demand for energy.
History
Against this postwar backdrop, a small, but visionary group of
pipeline industry entrepreneurs decided to form a professional
organization called Pipe Liners Club of Tulsa and began conducting
meetings in 1948 at various locations around the city.
The first elected officers were: President J.L. Cahill of
Continental Pipe Line Co.; Vice President P.L. Reichard and
Pipeline construction has come a long way from the earlier times shown
here, due in large part to professional organizations, like Pipe Liners
Club of Tulsa, promoting best practice methodology, industry specific
advancements and safety protocols. Pictured are workers from Oklahoma
Natural Gas Company busy laying pipelines across the Cimarron River
south of Tulsa sometime in the early 1920s.
Secretary J.D. Jones, both of Gulf Refining Co.; and Treasurer
F.C. Whiteside with Interstate Oil Pipe Line Co. There were
four directors, F.V. Cook, G.P. Jennings, Samuel C. Phelps
and J.F. Nickel.
During the first meeting, six presentations were given ranging
from a talk on control valves by John E. Green to a movie
titled Electricity and Oil Industry sponsored by General Electric.
These presentations set the stage for what would define the
organization's goal: providing relevant, timely and pertinent
information for its membership. Thus, the cornerstone was laid
for a professional organization that would serve to strengthen
and elevate a vital and prospering industrial sector of America.
In the decades that followed, the pipeline industry experienced
phenomenal growth nationwide in both size and technical
advancements, making professional organizations focused
on the continual improvement of the multifaceted industry increasingly
relevant. By virtue of being the first of its kind, PLCT
became the model for such organizations.
Beginning in Tulsa and spreading across the industry, professional
organizations grew commensurate with the growth
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Underground Infrastructure - January 2023

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