Page 16 The Northeast ONG Marketplace

NEWTECHNOLOGY

By: Ken Allison, GEF Incorporated

Oil and Gas exploration and production is demanding work. Those working in this industry must deal with temperatures from well below zero to above one hundred degrees. The terrain where wells are installed and transmission facilities are located can be rugged and difficult to traverse. With the effects of weather and the incursion

of plants, animals and the indigenous human population, the challenges to personnel safety are apparent. The welfare and safety of these individuals is one of the concerns that we address at GEF Incorporated.

There are problems, hazards and threats to an individual’s safety inherent in all industries. In the oil and gas industry,

the environmental and geographical factors must be considered when designing solutions to these problems, while addressing hazardous conditions, and minimizing the threats to the safety of personnel. The innovative fiberglass systems and solutions designed and implemented at GEF Incorporated are well suited and custom planned for these specific situations.

When you consider the need for materials and simple structural products and systems that are environmentally friendly, light weight, high strength and will last longer than the oil and gas infrastructure and equipment itself, fiberglass solutions designed and implemented by GEF Incorporated are the perfect answer.

It was a cold and wet day when a gas field worker slipped down the hill at a well location. The client decided they needed steps down the hill with a platform as well. GEF Incorporated hurried to the well site, looked the situation over, took some measurements and started designing the solution. Using fiberglass products, such as Extren® structure, Duradek® grating and Safrail® handrail, we fabricated a platform/stair system that will last for years and years. With fiberglass, there is no rust, no corrosion and no rotting.

We built the system in our shop, put it on a flatbed and delivered it to the site in three pieces. We sent the plans with all the fasteners, numbered the pieces of the system and the contractor slid it into place and fastened it down. There were no more slips down the hill at that site.

We often get a call to help get people out of the mud and assist them to reach their control panels. A company was refurbishing and enlarging their services and called GEF for some stair/platform concepts. We developed several different stair/platform systems that fit the situations in each of the sites they were refining. We then took the measurements, ran them through our design department, then to our professional fabrication team and they immediately took the projects to production. Within no time we had the systems built in our shop, broke them down for delivery and off they went to the job sites. Erection was easy at the job sites due to the initial shop fabrication which included, pre-fitting all sections in house and then providing instruction and guidance for assembling of the units at each site.

Unfortunately, well sites and compression stations are occasionally victims of vandalism, stray bullets, or storm projectiles. GEF has a solution. Our armor panel will stop and contain a .44 magnum ballistic. If you have meters, valves, piping, control panels, or even personnel that you want to protect from extreme impacts, our armor panels will do the job.

From stairs to platforms, from structural materials to bullet protection, all theses fiberglass products and many more are available at GEF Incorporated. For more information, please contact Ken Allison at 304-755-1600 or kallison@gefinc.com.

CUSTOM FIBERGLASS STRUCTURES SUITED FOR EACH JOB SITE

Keeping you out of the mud.

Platform and stair system reaches well head.

Fiberglass Armor Ballistic Panels and Storm Panels to protect your assets.