Evening star., 1941-08-17


a pest asking questions. I learned
that a development company is
drilling the gas wells. The gas Is
piped to Pittsburgh to be used in
steel mills to help in the national
defense program.
The derrick of the first well We
visited was "a feet high. Next to it
was a belt house Is feet long. 1t
connects the engine house with the
derrick. The engine is run with gas
that comes from wells that have just
been drilled near UniontOwn. 1t is
connected by belt IA inches wide
and lis feet long to band wheel.
II feet in diameter, which is fastened
to a big crank and walking beam, %
feet long and which weighs 2 tons.
AS the crank goes around, 1t moves
the walking beam up and down
about 2 feet each time.
The inside of the drilling derrick
is so feet by 25 feet and contains.
first of all, the 12-inch casing pipe
that is first put down As feet TO keep
the dirt from caving in. This casing
also helps to steer the bit straight
when starting to drill the hole. The
stem which screws on the bit Is 40
feet long, 6 inches in diameter, and
of solid steel. A 214 Inch special
hemp rope 300 feet long is fastened
to the stem and bit so the rope can
give if the bit gets stuck in the
hole. Then the rope is connected
to a steel wire. l inch in diameter.
Pipe Is Threaded.
This we'll was Just begun. 1t was
over 660 feet down at that time.
When they had drilled down 1850
feet. the driller said they would put
down long lengths of 9-inch steel
pipe as a casing to keep the water
out. This pipe is threaded and con-
nected together. 1t was to be low
cred length by length for 1850 feet
into the earth. Then a bit about 7
inches in diameter was to be used
until gas sand was reached at 5000
or 1000 feet. Next a 7-inch pipe
was to be put down inside the 9-inch
pipe to that depth. with a rubber
packer on the end. which f1attens
out by the weight of the pipe and
shuts eff the gas so it must come
through the 7-inch casing pipe up
to the derrick, where it is connected
with meter and pipe line.
The bit has to be heated every
eight hours and sharpened. so that
it will not get stuck in the well.
urIN
a blacksmith's forge, is heated by
gas from other wells. The men drill
about seven feet every two hours, as
some rock is harder and takes
longer.
I watched the men pull the stem
and bit up the 600 or more feet by
hitching a belt rope to the bull
like big reel on fishing rod. Then
they lowered bailer, about 80 feet
long with a dart on the bottom that
opens when lowered in the we'll, to
collect the water and crushed rock
When it is filled and the bailer is
hauled up, the dart closes. The oper-
ation is repeated several times to get
OUT lIle Sdllu anu "dOel NlllCIl
main Then the bailer is set s.sfdc
and the cable connected to the
stem and bit again and the drillire
operation repeated.
Headache BeaD.-
An amusing sight was a woooen
beam IA feet long and II inches
square standing upright from the
floor to within l foot of the big
walking beam, which was bohbing
up and down in the drilling opera
ton. I asked Mr.. Wilson, the head
driller, what it was. He laughed.
and said, That's the headache
beam" I asked why they called
it that and he said, IF that big
steel walking beam fell down while
we worked in under it and hit us
on the head, we'd sure get head
ache, so the headache beam is
placed there to protect us"
There are five complete wells on
the mountain. Two wells are down
$500 feet and two more around
1900 feet deep. There was one
Jlldl WdS O,OOO 1CCl
Daddy then took me to one of the
wells that was down 1900 feet,
which had already reached gas.
Mr.. Fox. the operator, said they did
not allow smoking, as the gas might
ignite and destroy thousands of
dollars in machinery and tools. 1t
was interesting to see the blue vapor
of gas coming up from the ground.
The tour was interesting and
educational to me, and 1 hope the
readers of The Junior Star will
now know how a we'll is drilled for
gas to get heat and power, and how
it helps national defense.