BECHTEL CORPORATION Job 2000
LAKEHEAD EXTENSION FINAL REPORT
February 1, 1954
GENERAL
The framework for a record of the construction of the Lakehead Ex-tension is probably most clearly outlined by the day by day diary of the most important meetings and events, which follows:
July 15th, 1952: Interprovincial Pipe Line Company started assem-bling maps and pertinent information covering possible routes for the extension of the Interprovincial - Lakehead system from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario, in Edmonton. This material covered two routes: One skirting around Lake Michigan by way of Chicago and thence northeasterly to Sarnia; the other traversing the length of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to St. Ignace, crossing the Straits of Mackinac and thence proceeding southeasterly to Sarnia.
July 21st: The Interprovincial Board of Directors discussed the possi-bility of extending the Lakehead system from Superior to Sarnia, and authorized the expenditure of $100, 000 for a study of the possible routes
August 15th: Representatives of Lakehead met with the U. S. Corps of Engineers in Detroit and discussed the problem of crossing the Straits of Mackinac and the St. Clair River with a crude oil pipeline.
September 19th: Missouri Valley Dredging Company of Omaha, Neb-raska, was engaged by Lakehead to make a preliminary survey of the Straits of Mackinac crossing.
September 29th: F. J. Stubbs, Assistant General Manager, and Roger Clute, Chief Engineer of Lakehead, started aerial reconnais-sance surveys of the Superior to Sarnia via the Straits of Mackinac route.
The Interprovincial Board of Directors reviewed preliminary cost estimates for the extension to Sarnia. The Board requested that President T. S. Johnston visit Washington, D. C. to determine the feeling of P. A. D. from the standpoint of approval of the project, and the availability of steel for pipe. cfiNFIDENTIAL
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October 6th: President Johnston advised his Board that the extension would have the support of P.A. D. The Board authorized further studies as to the size of line, and the estimated earnings.
October 9th: R. E. Trammell, General Manager, and Roger Clute of Lakehead continued with the aerial reconnaissance of the northern route and fixed a location if the crossing of the Straits of Mackinac proved feasible. (Note: This location was eventually used for the length of the line with a minimum of deviations being made during the final surveys.)
October 21st: The Board of Directors agreed that the Lakehead Exten-sion seemed desirable, after examining estimates and studies that had been prepared on this subject. The application for Po A. D, approval was authorized. A meeting with Bechtel Corporation officials to deter-mine what Bechtel could offer in the way of assistance to the over-all project was also authorized.
Van W. Rosendahl, R. Lo Hamilton, H. H, Hall and Clark Rankin of Bechtel Corporation scouted the two possible routes for the line by air, flying north from Chicago to Superior, then following the Upper Penin-sula of Michigan easterly to St. Ignace, then turning south to Port Huron and Sarnia, then flying southeasterly to Chicago. This flight gave a rough coverage of the route from Superior by way of Chicago to Sarnia, and also the alternate route from Superior by way of the Upper Penin-sula and the Straits of Mackinac to Sarnia.
October 22nd: S. D. Bechtel, Rosendahl, Hall, Hamilton and Rankin of Bechtel Corporation and S. M. Blair of Canadian Bechtel Limited met with T. S. Johnston, President; R. E. Trammell, General Manager; F. J. Stubbs, Assistant General Manager; and R. Ho Clute, Chief Engineer of the Interprovincial Pipe Line Company at Interprovincial's office in Toronto, for discussions of the proposed Lakehead Extension.
October 23rd: As a result of the Toronto discussions, Bechtel Corpora-tion was entrusted with the work of making cost estimates and the prepara-tion of a report covering the economics of both routes for submission to the Board of Directors of Interprovincial. Bechtel was also given the responsibility of supervising the survey of the Straits of Mackinac.
October 24th: Hall started on a scouting trip by automobile, traveling from Sarnia to Superior by way of the Straits of Mackinac.
October 25th: Bechtel scouts set forth from Chicago by car to cover the southern route. R. L. Hamilton commenced the preparation of the economic and engineering reports in San Francisco.
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October 29th: The taking of aerial photographs of the proposed routes was started by Aero Exploration Co. of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
October 30th: Hall and the other Bechtel scouts reported to San Fran-cisco with their field notes. The preparation of the estimates for both routes was organized under the guidance of Van W. Rosendahl, R. L. Hamilton and S. D. Bechtel, Jr.
November 12th: Hamilton and Rankin visited Edmonton, Alberta, for meetings with Messrs. Trammell, Stubbs and Clute, for a review of Bechtel's reports and estimates.
November 17th: The Bechtel Corporation report and proposal was sub-mitted in Toronto to the Board of Directors of Interprovincial by S. D. Bechtel and Van W. Rosendahl.
November 18th: S. D. Bechtel, Rosendahl, Colley, Blair, Hamilton and Rankin of Bechtel Corporation attended meetings with Messrs. Johnston, Trammell, Stubbs, Clute and the Directors of Interprovincial which culminated in the decision that Bechtel Corporation should under-take the engineering and management of the Lakehead Extension. The Board of Directors approved the northern route and the construction of an initial pump station at Superior. The pipe size of 30-inch diameter was selected for the line.
R. E. Trammell (Chairman), F. J. Stubbs and R. H. Clute of Lakehead-Interprovincial, and Van W. Rosendahl, Senior Vice President and R. L. Hamilton, Pipeline Consultant of Bechtel, were selected by the Board as a Coordination Committee, charged with the full responsibility for the construction of the project.
November 19th: A group of qualified contractors for the mainline con-struction was selected by Interprovincial and Bechtel, and were invited by telephone to bid on the line.
November 20th: Lakehead-Interprovincial met with the First Boston Corporation to discuss the financing of the project.
November 24th: Rosendahl met with the selected contractors in Minneapolis for a briefing on the project before they looked over the route. The date of December 20th was set for the opening of bids in San Francisco.
November 25th: Hall and Rankin of Bechtel Corporation and Ford Bart-lett of the engineering firm of Lockwood, Kessler & Bartlett, Inc. started on a scouting trip over the line from Duluth. Bartlett had been invited to make the trip in order that he might obtain the information
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necessary for his firm to bid on the location, mapping and survey work on the line.
November 26th: Lakehead-Interprovincial met with the Bank of Montreal to discuss financing.
November 28th: P. A. D. made a public announcement approving the al-location of steel for the project.
December 2nd: S. D. Bechtel, Rosendahl, Hamilton, McGough and Rankin met with Trammell, Stubbs and Clute in Edmonton for discussions of the pipeline and pump station specifications. Bartlett was also present for discussions on the surveying of the line.
December 3rd: The specifications were agreed upon and conversations were continued on the Straits of Mackinac, St. Clair and Saginaw sub-aqueous crossings. Bartlett was informed by Rosendahl that his firm would perform the location, mapping and surveying of the line under the direction of Bechtel Corporation.
December 5th: Bechtel Corporation moved into it headquarters office in Saginaw.
December 8th: Missouri Valley Dredging Company submitted its final report on the preliminary investigation of the Straits of Mackinac. This report indicated that the pipeline crossing was feasible.
December 18th: Bechtel's Creveling, Chambers, Barker and Rankin, and L. K.B. 's Bartlett met in Detroit with R. B. Burgess, Lakehead's Chief Counsel; Messrs. Scupholm and Gust of the legal firm of Butzel, Eaman, Long, Gust & Kennedy; Mr. Barstow of the Superior, Wisconsin legal firm of Johnson, Fritschler, Barstow & Witkin; and Mr. Wother-spoon and Mr. Bridding, legal representatives of the Lakehead bond-holders. This meeting was called by Mr. Burgess to Clarify the require-ments of the bondholders of the pipeline for the acquisition of the pipeline right-of -way.
December 19th: Bids for the construction of the seven mainline schedules of the pipeline were opened in San Francisco by S. D. Bechtel, Rosendahl and Hamilton, reprsenting Bechtel Corporation, and R. E. Trammell, Stubbs and Clute, representing Lakehead,
December 20th: Mainline schedules were awarded to the successful bidders as follows:
Mahoney Contracting Co. - Schedule I
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Anderson Brothers Corporation - Schedules II and III
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Midwestern Constructors, Inc. - Schedule IV Bechtel Corporation (Pipeline Division) - Schedule V Conyes Construction Corporation - Schedules VI and VII
December 22nd: H. D. Barker, Project Engineer for Bechtel, met with Mr. Millar and Mr. Humphrys of the Conservation Commission for a dis-cussion of the procedures required to obtain easements for the pipeline crossing of state lands. The same day he visited the State Highway De-partment and discussed the procedure for obtaining permits to cross the highways of the state.
January 3, 1953: A meeting was held in San Francisco for the purpose of studying the design to be used for the s
