In any discussion of subsurface pipe protection it first is necessary that the high points in the history of the development of adequate pipe coatings and successful methods of applying them are understood so that a clear picture is presented.
Prior to 1925 very little study had been made by operating men and management of pipe line companies to determine the causes of corrosion and to establish working methods to mitigate them. It was, of course, known that underground metallic structures were subject to corrosion and that something should be done to protect these structures against partial or total failure. Very little research of a concerted nature had been done so that little was known of the basic causes of subsurface corrosion. With this condition existing it followed that pipe coatings and equipment to apply them to pipe surfaces were primiitve and largely unsuccessful up to that time.
Before 1925,...
