Pipe Bundle Bumpers: Use a Bumper System or You're Using Your Welds

 

A Critical Risk in Bundled Directional Drills (That’s Easy to Overlook)

I was reviewing a bundled directional drill specification this morning and ran across an interesting wrinkle — one that’s easy to overlook when talking about bundled road bores and spacer systems like our BBS Bumper System.

It comes down to this: girth welds are especially vulnerable to pipe-on-pipe damage.

Think about what’s happening inside a bundled bore. Each pipeline has raised girth welds, and those welds are typically protected by a field-applied coating. Unless a proper spacer or bumper system is used, those coated welds are rubbing directly against adjacent pipelines during installation — and potentially for the life of the line.

Field joints are already the most “at-risk” section of any pipeline. Coating thickness can vary, surface prep isn’t always perfect, and real-world field application rarely matches lab conditions. Add continuous contact and movement against another pipe, and you’ve just increased the likelihood of damage at the exact point you can least afford it.

Now layer in the reality of a bundled pipe bore.

If your pipelines aren’t riding on a bumper or spacer system, chances are they’re riding on something else — very likely a field joint. And beneath that field joint? A girth weld.

Let that sink in for a moment.

You may think your pipes are simply resting against each other, but in practice, you could be concentrating load, abrasion, and movement directly on a raised weld profile with a field-applied coating. Over time, that’s a recipe for coating damage and potential corrosion issues down the road.

This is exactly why spacer systems matter — and why they need to be designed with bundled installations in mind. A properly engineered bumper system like BBS keeps pipelines separated, transfers load away from girth welds, and protects the most vulnerable sections of the pipe during installation and service.

Because when you really visualize what’s happening inside that bore, it’s honestly a little scary to think about what’s riding on what.

And it’s far better to address that risk up front than to discover it later.