PIERCE, COLO. - AUGUST 17, 2004 - Employees of Associated Pipe Line Contractors Inc. weld sections of 36-inch pipe on El Paso Corp.'s 380-mile Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline <cq> near the Pawnee National Grasslands northeast of Fort Collins, Colo. Tuesday m

PIERCE, COLO. - AUGUST 17, 2004 - Employees of Associated Pipe Line Contractors Inc. weld sections of 36-inch pipe on El Paso Corp.'s 380-mile Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline <cq> near the Pawnee National Grasslands northeast of Fort Collins, Colo. Tuesday morning, 8/17/04. Tractors equipped with sidebooms lower "welding houses" or sheds over the pipe joints. The houses are specifically constructed to create a seal around the pipe to prevent wind from affecting the welding shielding gas and also to provide some protection from the elements for the welders. Under good conditions about 2.5 miles of the pipe -- which comes in 80-foot sections -- can be joined and tested in a day. It will take some 8,000 welds to complete the pipeline. (The Denver Post / Jerry Cleveland) David Johnson, construction coordinator, 307-214-7790 Kim Wallace, El Paso PR, 713-201-4123, 713-420-6330 (Photo By Jerry Cleveland/The Denver Post via Getty Images)