That pipe alignment trick on a 60-foot tank in Baton Rouge changed my whole setup

I was working on a big pressure vessel at the Exxon plant in Baton Rouge last month and my foreman showed me how to use chain falls to tweak the alignment instead of hammering at it like I always did. It saved us a solid 4 hours on the fit-up and I didnt have to ream any holes for once. Any of you guys use chain falls for pipe alignment on big tanks or am I just late to the party?

3 comments

3 Comments

nora_dixon1mo ago

Saved 4 hours on the fitup" - yeah that's about what we saw too. I'll be honest, I always thought chain falls were just for hoisting stuff, not for finesse work like alignment. Then I actually tried it on a 50-foot tank job and felt pretty stupid for all those years of hammering at things.

julia_miller2414d ago

Wait did you have to reset the chain fall tension at different points along the pull or could you just crank it once and be done? I tried this on a 40-foot tank last week and the pipe shifted crooked halfway through the pull, ended up having to loosen and re-tighten the falls three times before it sat right. That extra hour for the angle iron stops sounds rough but it might be worth it if you're dealing with a pipe that wants to twist on you. How many chain falls did you string up for that 48-inch line anyway?

drew_park1mo agoTop Commenter

Honestly I gotta ask, when you did the chain fall pull on that 50-footer, did you have to set up any temporary saddles or guides to keep the pipe from kicking sideways? Me and my crew tried it on a 48-inch line at a plant near Port Arthur and the pipe kept walking off the tank shelf until we welded on some temporary angle iron stops. That fixed it but it added an extra hour to the setup time.