M9402 - Steel culverts, metal pipe, sewer pipe

Operational Details
Steel culvert, metal pipe and sewer pipe manufacturers use much of the same equipment as found in the larger heavy equipment steel fabrication shops. However, the difference is these shops specialize in manufacturing rolled steel products. Steel culverts are fabricated using corrugated steel, rolling and forming it, and seam welding the steel into pipe form. Metal pipe manufacture is similar, using a steel rolling and forming process. However, pipe manufacturing may also include welding flanges or spools onto the ends or the sides. This is done so the pipe can be welded or bolted onto different sized diameter pipes, vessels, or connected to other flanges.

Pipespooling is the manufacturing of pipe, with the expressed task of welding flanges onto the pipe. This is needed in the oil patch and at refineries, gas plants, and petro chemical plants, or anywhere process piping is used. They convey liquids to and from vessels, such as at a refineries, gas plants, power plants and water treatment plants.

Sewer pipe may be manufactured in a continuous run or in sections so they can be fitted together on site by welding or bolting the components together. Residential sewer pipe may also be manufactured out of plastic, so there can be some competition between a plastic pipe manufacturer and a steel pipe manufacturer, even though they serve slightly different markets.

Steel pipe facilities need large inventories of steel and because of this there must be a large area for storage of needed materials in the manufacturing process. Once fabricated, there is also a need to be able to store the completed production until it can be transported to the customer. Often steel products are stored in a compound adjacent to, or inside the fabrication shop. Large overhead travelling or gantry cranes may be used to move production in and out of the fabrication facility.

SIC Codes
000000614 - Steel culverts, metal pipe, sewer p