During a routine visit with one of our customers, our sales rep noticed something that caught his eye sitting in a corner of the customer’s office. Upon asking, the customer informed our rep that his team had recently experienced several issues with line strikes that had resulted in expensive cut outs. The product sitting in the corner had previously been used as a kind of polyurethane “snap-on” casing that protected exposed lines from strikes during excavation. The issue: the poly casing was now defective, and the customer could not find another like it. He tasked our rep with finding him another suitable casing that could be placed over a pipeline as a kind of protective barrier.

After researching the company that produced this casing, our rep discovered that it was no longer in business. Rather than dropping the issue, Allan Edwards decided to develop a custom offering that would fully encircle and protect an exposed line using materials with which we had extensive experience: steel repair sleeves. The concept culminated in the development of Safety Clam pipe protection tool. Not only did the tool act as a protective barrier once placed over a pipeline, it came equipped with an interior polyurethane lining that prevented the tool itself from scraping or damaging the pipeline. Specialized rigging allowed it to be easily lowered into the ditch and set over the pipeline. Today, this custom tool continues to be used by the same customer who originally requisitioned our sales rep to find a product to combat his line strike issue.