Forty-Five Years, Countless Miles of Pipe, and a Lifetime of Lessons

Forty-Five Years, Countless Miles of Pipe, and a Lifetime of Lessons

By Allen Cox, P.E.

DIPRA Regional Director, Southern States

After more than four decades in the water industry, people often ask what has changed the most.

The easy answer is technology. We didn’t even have the computers we use today when I came on board. Manufacturing has become more precise. The research we have done has improved our knowledge and helped ensure long service lives for ductile iron pipelines. New materials have entered the marketplace, and engineers have more data than ever to inform their decisions. The industry today is almost unrecognizable from the one I entered in 1981.

But the biggest lesson I’ve learned isn’t about pipe – it’s about people.

One of the greatest privileges of serving as Regional Director for DIPRA has been the opportunity to build relationships with water and wastewater professionals across the country. Whether I was making calls, conducting field investigations, speaking at conferences or helping utilities work through engineering challenges, every interaction reinforced the same truth: our industry is filled with people who genuinely care about providing safe, dependable drinking water to their communities.

Over the years, I’ve worked alongside waterworks professionals, consulting engineers, construction managers, educators, corrosion specialists, and seismic experts. Each interaction was an opportunity to learn something new and hopefully share my knowledge. That’s always been one of DIPRA’s greatest strengths: sharing technical and practical expertise and experience with our industry’s customers to our mutual benefit.

All of this led to numerous professional relationships with waterworks personnel and throughout the professional engineering field. In short, the DIPRA regional engineering program allowed me to provide these professionals with technical and practical information concerning Ductile iron pipe that isn’t taught in school.

The relationships that have been cultivated have, in a professional sense, allowed the Ductile iron pipe industry to be heard. Those relationships were built on trust because DIPRA’s role isn’t to sell pipe; it’s to provide technical expertise regarding the application of Ductile iron pipe. To highlight this, some of the finest compliments that I have received have come from sources that are our competition, including representatives of substitute piping products. This usually occurs because of the work we’ve done to improve specifications that helped place Ductile iron pipe in a proper context with those substitute materials.

I had the benefit of being able to rely on the research DIPRA has done, which allowed us to address problems in a practical way, from corrosion control to thrust restraint and pipe wall thickness design. As an example, the message included at the end of this article offers insight as to some of the compliments that I have received “off and on.”

Early in my career, a 100-year service life was considered exceptional. Today, it has become the standard. Waterworks professionals understand that investing in quality materials as well as providing comprehensive and thoughtful design pays dividends for generations. That shift in thinking may be one of the most important changes I’ve witnessed, because we now have a greater understanding of how every decision made today affects communities decades into the future.

Innovation has certainly played its part.  Research that improves the longevity of our pipelines, improvements to joints, coatings and linings, and an appreciation of the value of proper installation have all helped improve service. This includes some of the most important innovations like the 1922 development of cement mortar lining, the introduction in 1955 of Ductile iron pipe, the first installation of Polyethylene Encasement in 1958, the Design Decision Model (DDM®) in 2002, and finally the introduction of V-Bio® enhanced polyethylene encasement in 2013. Seeing research translate into practical solutions that municipalities can trust has been incredibly rewarding.

Some of my proudest moments over the last 45 years haven’t happened in a conference room. They happened in the field. I’ve participated in dozens of such investigations, including several investigations of the first polyethylene encasement installation in Lafourche Parish, LA. Installed in 1958, this pipeline has never had a failure. Those kinds of real-world results are what ultimately build confidence in the recommendations we make and help utilities make good decisions.

Personally, earning my AMPP/NACE Corrosion Specialist certification remains one of my greatest accomplishments. It strengthened my ability to serve our industry and contributed to research that continues to advance our understanding of corrosion control and pipeline performance.

If I have one concern about the future, it’s making sure we continue passing practical knowledge to the next generation. Today’s engineers are exceptionally capable and technologically savvy, but there is no substitute for experience. The best solutions come from combining sound engineering principles with a firsthand understanding of how infrastructure performs in the real world. Fortunately, I’ve met many young professionals who are eager to learn, and that gives me confidence in what lies ahead.

The benefit of those relationships has always gone both ways. The professionals I’ve called on have gained a better understanding of how Ductile iron pipe could benefit their customers, now and in the future. And we have gained a better understanding of what is most important to them, in order that they can better serve those customers. A full understanding of the value of Ductile iron pipe helps them provide a long-lasting water and wastewater piping network. For DIPRA, the reward has been building strong, working relationships that give water and wastewater professionals the confidence to contact us whenever they need answers.

As I reflect on my career, I don’t measure success by the miles of pipe installed or the projects completed. I measure it by the people I’ve met, the friendships I’ve built, and the opportunity to help communities create stronger, more resilient water systems.

It’s been an incredible journey, and I couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who was part of it.

 When Technical Expertise Makes an Impact

Allen recently presented to Black Hills Energy in Arkansas on a stray current interference and cathodic protection issue for existing metallic pipelines. The presentation made a strong impression on the attendees. Following the session, James Koch, P.E., Principal Engineer for the utility, wrote to Allen to share how valuable and impactful he found the presentation:

“We recently worked through a potential conflict involving a new water transmission main crossing one of our gas facilities. The situation was successfully resolved through proactive discussions, collaboration, and mitigation measures before it became a larger issue. As I reflected on the outcome, I realized that much of our team’s awareness of stray current interference risks and the importance of evaluating interactions between different cathodic protection systems can be traced back to the knowledge you shared with us.

“Your presentation reinforced the need to look beyond a single utility system and consider how multiple underground infrastructure systems can interact. That awareness helped us recognize the potential concern early, work collaboratively with the project stakeholders, and develop a practical path forward. The result was a successful outcome that avoided what could have become a significant corrosion concern for both utilities.

“One of the concepts that has stayed with me is the distinction between electrically continuous pipeline systems, such as steel gas pipelines, and ductile iron water systems. While the water main involved in this project was not ductile iron pipe, your discussion around ductile iron highlighted several important benefits that broadened our understanding of how different utility systems behave and respond to cathodic protection environments.

… Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with our team. It is rewarding to see industry education translate into real-world awareness, collaboration, and successful project outcomes. Your presentation made a lasting impact, and I wanted you to know that the value of that knowledge was clearly demonstrated on a recent project here in Arkansas.”