Tidewater pipeline
The Tidewater Pipeline was the world's first long-haul oil pipeline. Construction work began on February 22, 1879 . On May 28, 1879, the pipeline was successfully put into operation under the direction of Byron Benson . The 175 kilometer long tidewater pipeline initially ran between Rixford and Williamsport (Pennsylvania) . In 1882 it was extended to Bayonne, New Jersey .
prehistory
Edwin Laurentine Drake was the first American to successfully drill for oil near Titusville , Pennsylvania in 1859 . This pioneering act triggered a large number of further boreholes. A new industrial sector emerged within a few years. In 1865 a five mile long wooden oil pipeline was built near Titusville to carry the extracted oil to a nearby railroad . Because the horse-drawn carriages who had previously carried the oil-filled barrels (English barrel ) feared for their jobs, the wooden oil pipeline was sabotaged by arson . As a consequence of the destruction of the wooden oil pipeline, wrought-iron pipes and finally steel pipes were used in the construction of the pipeline in the following years.
The company Standard Oil had relatively quickly gained the near-complete control over the oil industry. In order to escape the price dictates of the railroad companies , which either belonged to the oil magnate John D. Rockefeller or who worked closely with him, Byron Benson devised a pipeline with which he wanted to transport oil from the Bradford oil field to Williamsport, Pennsylvania . To do this, the oil had to be pumped over a distance of 109 miles, negotiating an 800 meter high ridge. Williamsport was initially chosen as the destination because this location was on a railway line operated by the Reading Company , so that the oil could be transported by rail to the east coast. To achieve this ambitious goal, the Tidewater Pipe-Line Company was founded on November 13, 1878 by Byron D. Benson (planner), Robert E. Hopkins (engineer) and David McKelvy (lawyer). Although the pipeline construction was to be advanced secretly, John D. Rockefeller found out about it. He then used informers and went to great lengths to acquire the land over which the pipeline was to run. However, Rockefeller's attempts to prevent the pipeline project failed.
construction
The individual wrought-iron pipeline tubes were six inches in diameter , 18 feet in length, and weighed 340 pounds . The first pipeline pipes were laid on February 22, 1879. The pump that was supposed to push the oil through the pipeline was a technical challenge . The Holly Company developed a special pump to meet the physical requirements. The first of the two pumping stations was on the edge of the Bradford oil field near Coryville in McKean County . The first pump was put into operation on May 28, 1879. From two iron tanks, each with a crude oil capacity of 25,000 barrels, it pressed the crude oil into the pipeline with a pump output of 70 hp . The oil began to flow towards Williamsport at a rate of half a mile per hour. The second pumping station had been set up 28 miles away in Lycoming County . This second pump was needed to cross the ridge a few miles to the east. After crossing the apex, the oil continued to flow towards the destination due to gravity . A week later, on June 4, 1879, the oil reached Williamsport, so that the storage tanks there began to fill up.