Pipelines crisscross America. Some of them are below ground. Some of them are above ground. Some of them are submerged under rivers and lakes. Most of them are highly pressurized and all of them are potentially dangerous. If you have suffered personal injuries or property damages as the result of a pipeline explosion or pipeline failure, Cole and Hodges would like to help you.

Many pipelines contain materials, such as oil or gas, which can be highly explosive. Other pipelines contain substances such as water, which we would not normally think of as dangerous. However, whether the materials are flammable or not, circumstances which result in those materials suddenly being released to the atmosphere can cause devastating consequences for people who live or work nearby.

Pipeline explosions can result from poor maintenance of the pipes, joints, valves, "pigs" and other parts used to regulate what is being carried through the pipeline. Poor maintenance sometimes allows small problems to grow into disastrous situations that could have been prevented.

Such explosions also can be precipitated by the nearby operation of heavy equipment including machinery used to perform excavation work. Backhoes which strike a pipeline or which cause subsidence of the surrounding soils can result in breaks or dislocations or ruptures which only need to reach a source of ignition to result in fiery consequences.

Sometimes, pipeline failures are not technically failures at all yet can still result in injuries for which you deserve to be compensated. For instance, pipelines often have pressure release valves that are designed to "fail" and thereby release excess pressure and/or the material inside the pipeline to the atmosphere. These blow-out disks, therefore, actually are sometimes working correctly when they "fail." The fault in such situations, of course, may be in the over-pressure situation that resulted in the failure of the blow-out disk.

Lawsuits involving pipelines often have complicated proof issues. Some issues that can require highly technical scientific analysis include the following:

• metal fatigue
• corrosion
• stress fractures
• ductile and brittle fractures
• incomplete fusion of weld joints
• improper repair welds
• embrittlement caused by chemicals like hydrogen which result in premature failures
• material defects
• mechanical damages like gouges and dents

Pipeline failure analysis often will require your lawyer to hire mechanical or chemical engineers to serve as expert witnesses. Your lawyer also will need to be able to use the specifications and standards of the American Petroleum Institute and the regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation to your advantage. Pipeline companies are represented by some of the largest and best law firms in the United States. You deserve nothing less if those pipeline companies have injured you, killed a loved one, or damaged your property.

If you have suffered personal injuries or property damage because of the explosion of a pipeline or because a pipeline has suffered some type of premature failure, Cole and Hodges would like to help you.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a pipeline explosion contact Cole and Hodges online or call us at 1(888) 539-3110 to set up a free consultation.