EAGLE STATION NUMBER 25, HAER No. PA-577-A 20-INCH LINE VALVE WAR EMERGENCY PIPELINE Route 100 Eagle vicinity Chester County Pennsylvania
PHOTOGRAPHS WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA
HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD Southwest System Support Office National Park Service P.O. Box 728 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504 HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD
EAGLE STATION NUMBER 25, 20-INCH LINE VAL VE WAR EMERGENCY PIPELINE HAER No. PA-577-A
LOCATION: Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation, Eagle Station No. 25 Route 100, Eagle vicinity, Chester County, Pennsylvania
USGS Downingtown, PA, Quadrangle; UTM Coordinates: 18.441520.4438430
DATE OF CONSTRUCTION: 1942-1943
ENGINEERS: Charles P. Cathers, Defense Plants Corporation; Oscar Wolfe, War Emergency Pipelines, Inc.
CONTRACTORS: War Emergency Pipelines, Inc. (WEP)
BUILDER: United States Government
PRESENT OWNER: Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation (TETCO), Houston, Texas
ORIGINAL USE: Facilities support structure at pipeline pumping station
PRESENT USE: Same, abandoned
SIGNIFICANCE: The 20-Inch Line Valve at Station No. 25 is a representative example of one of the original pipeline valves used in the construction of the Inch Lines. The valve retains a high level of integrity with respect to materials and location.
PROJECT INFORMATION: The Inch Lines were recorded under the provisions of a Programmatic Agreement among the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the State Historic Preservation Offices of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey for the Big Inch and Little Big Inch Pipelines. The documentation was prepared for Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation by the Cultural Resource Group of Louis Berger & Associates, Inc. (Berger). The written documentation was prepared by Richard M. Casella, Berger Senior Architectural Historian, and Ingrid Wuebber, Berger Senior Research Historian. Berger Senior Photographer Rob Tucher served as Project Photographer. EAGLE STATION NUMBER 25, 20-INCH LINE VALVE WAR EMERGENCY PIPELINE HAER No. PA-577-A (Page 2)
DESCRIPTION
This resource consists of a 20" gate valve manufactured by Allis Chalmers Company. The valve is a typical example of gate valves installed along the Inch Lines, the differences being primarily in size and manufacturer. This valve is installed on a portion of buried pipe, which is no longer in service, at Eagle Station No. 25. Based on measurements taken of an identical valve, the cast iron valve body measures 48" flange to flange, 36" deep and 66" high. The overall height of the valve, including stem and operating gear housing, is approximately 108". The valve is manually operated with a single side wheel. A valve position indicator rod extends 36" above the gear housing when the valve is open.
FUNCTION
Gate valves were used at many stations and other locations along the Inch Lines to stop, regulate, or redirect the flow of oil or petroleum products through the pipelines. The main feature of a gate-type valve is that it allows unrestricted flow and perfect drainage of the system when fully open. The valve body is either cast iron or steel and essentially a short section of straight pipe with bolt or weld flanges at each end for making connections with pipe. Other components of the valve are steel. The valve housing is cast with the body and provides a space for the valve gate to be drawn into when the valve is open. The gate, a steel disc with the same diameter as the inside of the pipe for which the valve was made, can be moved in or out of the flow by a screw gear mechanism. When opening, a threaded rod known as a stem pulls the gate into the valve housing. The upper half of the housing is removable and is known as the bonnet. Bolted to the top of the bonnet is the valve stem housing and operating mechanism housing. The operating mechanism consists of reduction gears connected to a drive shaft turned by a hand wheel or motor. The drive mechanism can be in-line with the valve stem and therefore top-operated, or at a right-angle to the stem and side-operated.
Gate valves are measured in inches corresponding to the size of the pipe they are designed for. A 24" valve would be specified for 24"-diameter pipe. The gate valves used on the Inch Lines were manufactured by Darlington Valve and Manufacturing Company, the Allis Chalmers Company, and the Walworth Company.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cathers, Charles P. 1943 Final Engineering Report, Plancor 1226, War Emergency Pipelines, Inc. Box 46, Entry 146, Defense Plant Corporation, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Record Group 234. On file, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland. EAGLE STATION NUMBER 25, 20-INCH LINE VALVE WAR EMERGENCY PIPELINE HAER No. PA-577-A Graphic Documentation (Page 3)
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Location of Station No. 25 EAGLE STATION NUMBER 25, 20-INCH LINE VALVE WAR EMERGENCY PIPELINE HAER No. PA-577-A Graphic Documentation (Page 4)
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QUADRANGLE LOCATION
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