It included an overview of the biggest pipelaying project then underway—1,840 miles from Texas to New York City—the first major natural gas pipeline to supply gas to the city.

The general contractor employed 75 subcontractors, typically contracting them to lay 40-to-80-mile stretches of pipe.

Crews cleared the right-of-way, dug the trench, and performed pipe-bending on site. Joint bevels were buffed free of corrosion, then pipe lengths (normally 31.5 ft) were clamped and hand-welded, with inspections done by x-ray.

Next, welded sections from several hundred to a few thousand feet were taken over by a coating gang. The team would first use one machine to abrade corrosion scale from the outer surface and spray on an enamel primer.

Then, a second machine coated the pipe with heated coal-tar and spiral-wrapped it with protective fabric, either fiberglass or tarred asbestos felt.

Side-boom tractors then lowered the pipe into the trench. For river crossings, weights were clamped on the pipe to overcome buoyancy.

Natural gas power plants supplied 13% of the country’s electricity generation in 1950, compared to today’s share of 43%.