Truby "Joe" Mayes



July 24, 1927
October 26, 2010

Married 62 Years


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One of Dad's greatest "work" joy's was welding on the Alaska Pipeline.


Perhaps no single welding event in history ever received so much attention as did the Alaska Pipeline.

Field construction of this 798-mile-long pipeline began in March 1975 and it was no picnic.

Crews of SEASONED welders braved Alaska's frigid terrain to weld this large-diameter pipeline, from start to finish. The entire pipeline only disturbed about 12 square miles of the 586,000 square miles of the state of Alaska.


Welders were called upon to handle and weld a new steel pipe thicker and larger than most of them had ever encountered before, using electrodes new to most. And, the requirements were the stiffest they had ever seen.

The requirements for the welds in double jointing were even more severe. For double-jointed pipe, welds were expected to meet an average of 20 ft-lb (27 J) and at least 15 ft-lb (20 J) in both the welds and the heat-affected zones at -50°F (-45.5°C). About 38,000 of these joints were welded for the Alaska pipeline. The joints were made using submerged arc welding and a wire that contained 3% nickel.  

The only electrode the engineers could find that met the 20J and 27J requirements was an E8010-G filler metal from Germany, most welders were seeing it for the first time.

One of the requirements was 100% X-ray inspection of all welds. The films were processed automatically in vans that traveled alongside the welding crews.

Welders worked inside protective aluminum enclosures intended to protect the weld joint from the wind. Lighting inside the enclosures enabled welders to see what they were doing during Alaska's dark winter.


Dad

MY BEST FRIEND, EVER!!!!!

Love you DAD!

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Dad had three Great JOY's in life!

His LOVING wife June,

Beautiful Daughter Eugena
(my wife Gena)

Beautiful Daughter Joy

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Gena and Joy have blessed Joe and June
with 7 Grandchildren
and 17 GREAT Grandchildren!

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Dad and I watched NASCAR racn' every
weekend
, watching "OUR" driver
#24 Jeff Gordon. We spent many
Sunday afternoons watching Jeff
from behind closed (
we where a sleep)
eye lids!!!