Steel gas mains draw regulators’ scrutiny – U.S. news – msnbc.com.

Read the link for an informative article concerning what engineers can learn from natural gas pipelne failures — and why aging gas infrastructure made of steel is becoming more and more a problem.  This is clearly illustrated by the recent disaster and tragic loss of life (and homes) in California.

Materials engineers especially have an important role to play in understanding the materials failure (including corrosion) often at the core of gas pipeline failures.  The National Association of Corrosion Engineers has published a case study on-line of their analysis of a gas pipeline failure in New mexico in 2000.  You can read it at http://events.nace.org/library/corrosion/Pipeline/Carlsbad-explosion.asp.  Obviously corrosion is less of a problem with gas lines that are not made of metal, but chemical attack, environmental degradation and mechanical failures are still hazards engineers need to learn about and pay attention to, especially in light of the aging natural gas infrastructure in the United States.