I had gas run into my house a few years ago. The gas company excavated the main out on the street and I happen to notice one guy sitting on the back of the truck whittling the end of a stick to a point. Curiosity got the best of me and I walk over and ask him what the stick for. "You'll see" he says.
The other guy gets up out of the hole and gets a pneumatic drill from the truck (there is a compressor on the truck). He looks around for a twist drill in a drawer, couldn't find a sharp one and asks me if I have one, 3/8 would be good. I go to my truck and find a 5/16, "good enough" he says. He then chucks the drill bit in the drill, jumps down in the hole and proceeds to drill a hole in the 4" medium pressure gas main.
So, right about then I'm wondering whether to run but I notice the other guys don't seem concerned at all. I watch as this guy drills and just as the drill bit is about to break through the guy with the stick finishes whittling and tosses it down to the guy with the drill. Now as gas is hissing out of the hole the guy takes the stick and jams the pointed end into the hole plugging it. He then puts a saddle and valve body down over the stick, tightens the U bolts, pulls out the stick and screws in the valve.
Needless to say nobody was smoking...
-Hal
