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Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Browse our products on Amazon: This film “As the Crow Flies“ was made by the Gardner-Denver Co., a leading global provider of compressors, blowers, and vacuum pumps, (:09) shows the installation of part of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. The pipeline was constructed by Oman Construction Co., RH Fulton & Co., and Brodie Construction Company (:30). The film opens with a car riding up a highway (:54). This part of the pipeline costs 10 million dollars (:57) and carries natural gas from the Tennessee Gas Transmission Company’s mainline in Tennessee to Oak Ridge (1:04). Due to the atomic bomb plant in Oak Ridge, the town had grown rapidly from a small one of the 5th largest city in the state (1:13). Covering a distance of 172 miles, the pipeline cuts through the Cumberland Mountains (1:48). The 22-inch pipe required a trench 3 feet wide with a minimum depth of 4 and ½ feet (2:28). A conveyor belt is seen pulling dirt out in ridges as bulldozers would then back fill the trench after the pipe had been laid (2:44). Contractors are at work using drilling equipment to break through rock (3:20). The Gardner-Denver model RMT 99 Twin Drill is pictured (3:46) and these twin drills were replacing hand held drills (3:53). The title of the film is given a nod as the narrator mentions that “while highways could mold to the mountains and terrain, a pipeline must be laid straight as how a crow must fly“ (4:32). Each set of drills was receiving its air supply from the Gardner-Denver 500 cubic foot air compressor (4:55). As the sandstone was so abrasive, it was often used as a cutting tool itself in the marble mills of Knoxville (5:20). Oil bath cleaners removed dust from nearby drills (5:34). A drill equipped with an automatic blow valve sent blasts of cleaning air through the steel and through the bottom of the line (6:18). A helper is seen following behind plugging the holes with brush to protect them (6:21). Other workers are pictured lowering and turning on a blower (6:58). Each hole was spaced about three feet apart (7:25) and operators are seen steading a drill to begin drilling again (7:28). Diesel tractors haul the drills and compressors up and down steep slopes (8:54). A Gulf Oil Products supply truck (10:26) is being pushed through the mud by a bulldozer. As the Trackson Tractor becomes stuck in the mud (11:55), another tractor sits on more solid ground to pull it to safety. Powder men use dynamite sticks to blow through the terrain (13:54) and electric detonators are used in water entrenched areas (14:15). The powder men then move through lighting the fuses which smoke instantly and then blow down the line (15:49). Afterwards, the cleanup crew moves through to unearth the trench (16:59). Next the stringing crew will move in to lay pipe (17:03). Clam shells and back hoes are clearing the trench and after hand shovel men will take over (17:42). Viewers can see the Gardner-Denver 55lb hand held drills (18:05) at use. All the while, the pipe is being laid (18:25). As the pipe had already been tag welded, welders move in to add a full bead to each joint (18:41). Tractors raise a long string of welded pipe (19:44) while a towing machine cleans the pipe (19:50). The wrapping machine is up to bat (20:32) and connections are made for local distributing lines (21:25). The completed line is to deliver 600 million cubic feet of natural gas to the Atomic Energy Commissions Oak Ridge plant as well as communities along its route (21:48). The film nears the end as the pipe took 165 days to complete (22:35). Just before the end screen, bulldozers are seen moving dirt back over the pipe and trench (22:56). Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGPL) is a set of natural gas pipelines that run from the Texas and Louisiana coast through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to deliver natural gas in West Virginia, New Jersey, New York, and New England. The 11,900-mile (19,200 km) long system is operated by the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan. It is one of the largest pipeline systems in the United States. Its FERC code is 9. TGP's PHMSA pipeline operator i.d. is 19160. The first pipeline was constructed by Tennessee Gas Transmission Company (TGT) beginning in 1943. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
