Colorado Springs — Jack Madore is wearing his never-ending grin. He is standing on a construction site lined with military tanks and a single McElroy fusion machine. He can talk circles around anyone, especially if the topic happens to be high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe, but now he is silent. His squinted gaze is locked on the jagged Rocky Mountains that hang as a backdrop over the scene. He is pausing to smell the roses; or …
Eureka, Utah — Brian Shields squints his eyes and stares into the wavy heat-blurred mirage floating over the twin polyethylene pipelines stretching into the Utah desert. A pair of McElroy fusion machines is spitting out 80 feet of new pipeline every 15 minutes while a single fusion technician slowly paces between them like an expecting father. Shields slides his hardhat off to expose his shaved head to the August sun and says, “In a total …
I push my way through the mass of people gathered in the pipe warehouse in search of Ryan Harrington. I find him surrounded by a group of 120-some-odd men who are shouting answers to pipe fusion questions with the enthusiasm of Ron Popeil’s studio audience. Harrington is flinging hats and shirts at them like a cheerleader at a football game and the whole scene looks more like a pep rally than a polyethylene, fusion-training seminar. …
St. Petersburg — Anticipated shortfalls are uppermost in the minds of many water officials across the nation. While most are scratching their heads wondering what to do, one unruffled Water Utilities Manager is not shy about explaining how trenchless technologies, polyethylene pipe and a well orchestrated plan will not only conserve water, but save his city untold millions. Joe Towry, the Manager of the Water Systems Maintenance Division for the City of St. Petersburg Florida …