STUART — Two weeks after a natural-gas pipeline rupture shut down the two major thoroughfares leading to South Florida, more than 20 miles of the pipe remain closed and investigators are still trying to figure out why it failed.

The May 4 blast along Florida’s Turnpike in Martin County caused a 113-foot-long segment of the pipe to be ejected from the ground and hurtled alongside the highway, according to an initial report from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Though the cause of the rupture remains unclear, the report raises the possibility that a seam in the pipe may have been a factor. The 18-inch-wide pipe was manufactured by Youngstown Sheet and Tube in 1959. (more…)

Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the natural gas pipeline rupture that shut down Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike for several hours Monday morning.

Florida Gas Transmission, the Houston-based company that owns the 5,000-mile pipeline, sent three investigators to Martin County to examine the damage.

They probably will ship pieces of the broken 18-inch pipe for metal testing to help find clues, said company spokesman John Barnett. The segment of the pipeline that ruptured was built in 1959.

It’s unclear how long the investigation will take, Barnett said.