JOB RELATED

Residents and businesses in Bay City, Texas, are served by one of the most progressive natural gas service providers in the country.

Established in 1938, the city-owned and -operated utility has more than 4,600 customers in this city of 18,600 located southwest of Houston, just inland from the Gulf of Mexico.

Constructing and maintaining the 193 miles of underground pipe in the distribution system requires trained personnel and the right equipment.

For many years, the utility had dug trenches to install service lines from main pipelines to connect residences and businesses.

When the time came to replace the company's compact trencher, Bay City Gas Superintendent Michael Bradish suggested a compact skid-steer loader equipped with a vibratory plow attachment.

As opposed to the conventional trenching method of digging a trench, laying pipe at the bottom, and filling in the excavation, the vibratory plowing process "plows in" the pipe. First, pipe to be installed is attached to a blade mounted on the machine's shaker unit. Then the blade is lowered into the ground, the shaker activated, and pipe is buried as the machine moves forward—no trench is dug.

Bay City Gas purchased a Ditch Witch SK650 compact skid-steer loader with a vibratory plow attachment. The equipment is compact enough to work in confined areas. The operator rides on a platform on the rear of the machine instead of walking behind it, as was necessary with the old trencher.

"The crew members were a little skeptical about us buying the plow attachment instead of a trencher attachment," said Bradish. "However, after using it several times to install new service lines, they were sold. After installing an 800-foot service in about 15 minutes, no one wanted to go back to the old trencher. The new machine has worked out great!"

Bradish said the machine is used to bury 3/4-, 1-, and 1 1/4-inch medium-density polyethylene pipe.

"It is small enough to get into back yards," he continued, "but we use it in any situation where it would be better to plow instead of excavating with a backhoe or large trencher. Plowing pipe in leaves a small slit in the ground. Just drive over it, and you're finished."

Powered by a 30-horsepower-class diesel engine, the SK650 also is more versatile than a machine limited to trenching or plowing. More than 70 specialized attachments are available for performing a wide range of utility, landscape, and light construction tasks: digging fence and post holes; breaking up paving; cleaning up job sites; moving small trees, planters, paving stones, and landscape rock; making excavations for small landscape ponds; and mixing, transporting, and dispensing concrete and grout, to name but a handful of the SK650's capabilities.

The Bay City Gas Co. has an interesting history.

More than 70 years ago, V.L. LeTulle, a successful resident businessman, purchased the privately owned gas utility that was providing gas service to Bay City. Mr. LeTulle gave the Gas System to the City of Bay City, with the stipulation that it was to operate for the benefit of the citizens. The goal of his gift was to provide affordable and reliable natural gas service to all residents. The deed established a three-member board of trustees, of which two members would be lifetime appointees and the third member would be the mayor of Bay City.

Since then, revenue generated by Bay City Gas Company has provided funds of more than $10 million to purchase fire trucks, water towers, buildings, street improvements, and other large capital assets for the city.

During the 1980s, the company invested in a major upgrade to the entire gas system, which resulted in a gas-distribution system that is state-of-the-art, safe, reliable, and which provides gas service priced lower than most other providers in this region. In 2004, the company invested in an automated meter-reading system that allows all meters in the entire city to be read in one working day.