tested on the desert of New Mexico, under conditions at least approaching those in Saudi Arabia.

And so when the first pipe arrived, first by barge and then by skyhook, there were trailer trucks capable of hauling 93-foot lengths totaling up to 50 tons. Delivering the pipe to the pipe line right-of-way in this length cut the on-location welding by two-thirds.

The automatic welding at Ras el Mishaab not only reduced the field welding but effected fully a 50% saving in overland transportation costs because of the greater and more economical loads which could be carried with the 93-foot strings.

Originally Tapline's engineers had hoped that only a moderate amount of road building would be required along the pipe line's route. But eventually it became necessary to build adjacent to the line a highway 930 miles long from Ras el Mishaab to an intersection with an existing road in Jordan.

This road across previously impassable desert has already had byproducts