Pentzien lays diagonal cross of Potomac for Columbia gas

One of the most unusual pipeline river crossings was completed last fall by Pentzien, Inc., for Columbia LNG Corp. on the Potomac River at Bryans Road, MD, 22 miles south of Washington, DC. Part of a line delivering regasified Algerian LNG to Virginia and Pennsylvania, this crossing would have been only 7896 ft straight across the river; however, to obtaining necessary country authorization without excessively delaying the project, the line was laid diagonally 19,500 ft across the river at a cost about two-thirds more than for a straight-line crossing. The concrete-coated 36-in.-diam pipe for the project was so heavy that each transport truck could handle only a single 40-ft length at a time. Laser beams on each side of the river were used to guide both the dredging and pipelaying operations.