Hot Taps & Line Stops: Mechanical Field Services

Repairing or modifying “live” piping systems under pressure creates many challenges. Our team of experts is here to provide you with solutions for hot taps and line stops to reduce service interruption, lost product, and downtime for repairs, additions, and modifications.

Hot tapping is a cost-effective way to isolate the piping system for things like repairs, replacements, tie ins, bypasses, and other modifications. Hot tapping can also help prepare the equipment for line stops, which help create a temporary isolation point without needing to completely shut down the system.

You might need hot taps or line stops for things like tie-ins, installing measurement equipment like gauges and meters, to provide sample points for quality control, or even to provide access for isolation in a current system.

We specialize in providing economical, dependable services for hot taps and line stops. Our team can help provide isolation solutions for many different applications. We offer hot tapping services for pipes up to 42” in diameter with walls up to ½” thick.

Our experts offer a wide range of solutions for your hot tapping and line stop needs.

Pivot head line stops are some of the most widely used in the industry because they are reliable and effective. We start with hot tapping and then install a plug that pivots into place to provide a temporary flow stop for the piping system. These line stops provide isolation for a wide range of applications. Pivot head line stops help minimize product loss, which helps protect revenue, safety, and the environment.

High temperature plugs are much the same as pivot head line stops yet use specialized plugs for piping systems that contain high temperature liquids or gases. These plugs are made of a flora green seal with an aluminum backup plate for additional support. High temperature plugs can provide line stops for systems up to a maximum temperature of 650°F.

Inflatable line stops utilize inflatable plugs to provide temporary isolation in piping systems. These plugs can help provide line stop solutions for systems with out-of-round pipes, pipes that are thinning near the bottom, or with heavy buildup in the inner diameter of the pipes. They also work well in low pressure systems or systems with flare lines.

After hot tapping, our specialists insert the plug and inflate to the pressure needed to provide a tight seal. Inflatable line stop plugs can be made of many different materials to suit your application.

Double line stops help provide redundancy and backup with two inflatable plugs. This service also allows you to bleed off any seepage that might escape the first plug through the hot tap. For piping systems with flammable or toxic gases, this method also allows you to introduce a purge gas through the hot tap to help prevent escape. With double block line stop services from our team, we utilize just one hot tap for two stop plugs in the line.

Inflatable flow stop services provide faster isolation in piping systems without depressurizing the line. These utilize smaller hot taps to deploy inflatable plugs to seal the area. These can conform to systems with out of round lines, pipe wall thinning, and pipes with buildup along the interior walls. Inflatable flow stops work well on high pressure systems.

Freeze line stops offer isolation without the need for hot tapping. With freeze stops, we attach a jacket around the pipe’s OD. We then flood the jacket with liquid nitrogen to reduce the temperature and freeze the liquid inside. Freeze stops are economical and help maintain pipeline integrity. We perform freeze stops on pipes up to 30” in diameter and with liquids with suitable freeze points.

Isolation test line stops utilize plugs for temporary isolation typically to allow for testing or hot work. These isolation test plug services can help with local isolation so you can perform hot work without the need to clean or decontaminate the entire piping system. They can also provide isolation for localized hydrostatic testing for specific welds, joints, or OD nozzles. Isolation test plug services provide solutions for testing specific localized areas to reduce downtime, costs, and safety hazards.

hot tap installed for line stops

Field Installs and Uninstalls with Onsite Repair Services

Reducing downtime, service interruption, and costs is essential for many piping systems. Our experts at Leverage offer superior services for hot taps and line stops so you can confidently install and uninstall new equipment and lines and make necessary repairs to piping systems.

Our hot tapping and line stop solutions provide a tight seal for temporary isolation needed for field installs, repairs, and uninstalls. We are here to help you minimize downtime and service interruption for new construction, maintenance, and repairs for piping infrastructure.

We pride ourselves on outstanding customer service. When you choose our team for hot taps and line stops, you get peace of mind you have a team of experts on your side to provide efficient, high-quality services.

30 inch bag/inflatable line stops
hot tap