The Gas & Fuel Corporation (GFC) was already operating the high pressure Morwell to Dandenong Lurgi gas pipeline, and had been progressively constructing the first gas ring main around the Melbourne outer suburbs when natural gas was proven in commercial quantities in Bass Strait.

This led to Brian’s long involvement with the Dutson to Dandenong gas pipeline, which came under the control of the GFC. At this time, Brian teamed up with his friend John Barker and they subsequently provided inspectors and hydrotest services to many pipelines in Australia, which included cleaning, pigging, dewatering, drying and commissioning.

The need for improved test result assessment and acceptance standards had become a concern to relevant pipeline owners and authorities. Part of the problem was the need to gather and interpret better test data, particularly buried pipe temperature which is crucial to pressure test assessment. Early methods using normal thermometers were of some value, but it was not until the arrival of the overseas test teams of SnamProgetti and Kopp that buried pipe temperature data held real value.

The rapidly expanding gas transmission system in the eastern states saw Brian’s involvement with the Gladstone to Rockhampton pipeline, and much of the New South Wales and South Australian natural gas systems.

He was involved in a number of subsea pipeline pulls, dating back to the water supply pipeline across the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, which was constructed to supply the town of Whyalla. This included an off-bottom pull where the pipe remains afloat but submerged just clear of the bottom.

Brian began a long association with consultants Pipeline Technologists (now WorleyParsons), which was headed up by Bruce Andrews. This led to stints working in many different countries including the United States, Malaysia, Brunei, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

He also spent a few years offshore in the Bass Strait, where he was involved with subsea pipelines including the first lines laid by pipe reel mounted on a workboat. This system provided fuel gas between platforms.

In the mid-1990s, the then Worley group won a contract with the US Defense Fuel Supply Corporation to conduct a major integrity testing program of fuel supply pipelines to military air bases stretching from Alaska to Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba.

Typically, these pipelines start at a refinery or shipping terminal and run to tank storages before being transported separately to air bases, carrying jet fuel of various grades or diesel. Around this time, strict new environmental laws were enacted, which required a major nationwide upgrade of in-service product pipeline testing and maintenance.

Brian and his navy supervisors contributed to a significant improvement of testing standards and procedures to ensure there was no fuel contamination, particularly in states where the jurisdiction for pipelines rested with the State Fire Marshal.

Brian recalls being in the presence of former US President Bill Clinton at Elmendorf Air base in Alaska, when Airforce One landed and parked on the tarmac quite close to where Brian and his crew had been conducting their testing activities. Surprisingly, they were allowed to continue but not without close scrutiny by armed security guards.

He was also in Guantanamo Bay when a commotion in the next office led him to look in and witness the horrific television spectacle of the World Trade Centre ablaze. The base went into immediate lockdown and after a week or so when air services were restored, he flew home to Australia and retirement.

Brian has acted as an honorary assessor for National Association Testing Australia (NATA) in pipeline and pressure vessel testing for many years. It is now a statutory requirement for NATA to carry out testing in registered laboratories, and this has greatly improved the quality and integrity of pipeline testing across Australia.

The recent Victorian BassGas pipeline system connecting a gas processing plant at Lang Lang to local Gippsland towns brought Brian briefly out of retirement. He was pleasantly surprised to find himself working once again with old faces such as Bill Hickling and Jeff Shepherd.

He has also been impressed by the improvement of accuracy and reliability in pressure test data, particularly the use of data loggers for buried pipe temperature measurement. This improvement has resulted in the near perfect correlation of test results.

Brian now lives in retirement with his wife Marlene on Phillip Island, in southeast Victoria, where he pursues his lifelong love of sailing. He is a life member of the Newhaven Yacht Squadron, and recently supervised their marina expansion project.

He has, over the years, sailed the length of Australia’s east coast from Hobart to Cairns, but now restricts himself to the confines of Western Port Bay.