ORDER XVII.—BUILDERS, BRICKLAYERS, STONE AND SLATE WORKERS, CONTRACTORS

Sub-order 1.—Builders, Bricklayers, Stone and Slate Workers; Contractors

578.—Gas and Water Main Layers

Back to List of Occupational Codes

cable and service layer (electrical) ; main layer (electricity supply)

(i) (cable laying) lays by hand, in prepared trench (often cement lined), various kinds of main electric cables, e.g., lengths of cable roughly bound together, single cable unwound from a drum, etc.; or, lays in trench pipes through which bound lengths of smaller cables are drawn by means of a long iron or wooden rod;

(ii) (service laying) lays by hand in small prepared trench, ready for connection, single smaller cables for conveyance of current from main to consumer's premises; drills, or cuts with hammer and chisel holes through party walls for passage of cable;

(iii) see cable, hand.

cable hand

(i) cable and service layer, main's navvy; carries out all excavation work required in laying electrical cable;

(ii) assists cable and service layer (q.v.);

(iii) in G-P.O. works in gang of men erecting on poles or laying underground cables for telephone or telegraph service;

(iv) see cable insulator (318).

conduit layer

lays and repairs iron or earthenware conduits; runs molten lead, for iron conduits, or cement or composition, for earthenware conduits, into joints to make them watertight.

main layer ; pipe layer

places pipes for gas and water mains end to end in prepared trenches in readiness for caulking; beds pipes in clay or cement and packs up with stones, etc., to obtain required alignment.

main layer (electricity supply)

see cable and service layer (electrical).

main's navvy

see cable hand.

pipe layer

see main layer.

pipe linesman, pipe ranger

lays as or water pipes in trenches, dug y a labourer under instructions from district foreman (501) (q.v.) or foreman pipe Inver (561) (q.v.) places pipes end to end and makes joints; packs up pipes with clay, cement, stones, etc. to obtain required alignment; caulks joints by pouring in molten lead; when lead is set hammers it in joint with hammer and chisel; in repair work, breaks joints, removes broken section and relays and caulks joints of new section.

pipe tester (gas)

tests section of gas main, after laying and caulking, by turning on gas and examining joints for leaks.

pipe tester (water)

tests section of water main, after laying and caulking, filling section with water, and examining joints for leaks.

service layer (electricity)

see cable and service layer.

service layer (gas)

places lengths of service pipe, for conveyance of gas from main to consumer, end to end in prepared trench usually dug by labourer; paints joints with coat of red lead, winds yarn round thread of pipe, and screws one section of piping thus prepared into section already laid, to make joint; also cuts and threads pipes, if required, using cutting and threading dies and vice; sometimes also makes connections, in lead piping, from service pipe to meter, in consumer's premises.

service layer (water)

places lengths of service pipes, conveying water from main to consumer, end to end in trenches dug by labourer or excavator (581) (q.v.); usually also joints pipes, either by "caulking," i.e., pouring in molten lead and hammering set lead, into joint with hammer and chisel, or, for earthenware pipes, by filling joints with cement, using a trowel.

Back to List of Occupational Codes

---

From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016.   This text is in the Public Domain.