The paper describes work performed in collaboration with the British Gas Corporation, in relation to the development of algorithms for monitoring the condition of high-pressure gas pipelines. The practical problem considered is that of reconstructing the pressure profile along a single length of pipe from pressure measurements at the end points and a further measurement at an intermediate point along the pipe. The approach adopted is based on the implementation of a finite-dimensional asymptotic state observer derived from consideration of the distributed-parameter properties of the system. The paper includes the results of a computational study in which the observer was evaluated against experimental data corresponding to an 80 km section of pipe. These results indicate that the dynamic observer is capable of providing an accurate estimate of the pressure profile over a complete 24 h demand cycle.