Some Uniontown natural gas customers getting new set of pipes
With temperatures struggling to rise above single digits, it’s not the best time to have aging natural gas piping. That time will be over soon for some Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania customers in Uniontown.
Later this month, Columbia Gas will replace roughly 3,000 feet of underground steel pipe with plastic pipe along along East Main Street, Brown Street and Park Avenue as part of the company’s $1.5 million infrastructure replacement project targeting residences in that area of the city. Weather permitting, the project is expected to last until the end of April, Columbia Gas Senior Communications & Community Relations Specialist Sarah Perry said.
Project construction will take place between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with temporary lane closures during those hours. Perry said that approximately 50 Columbia Gas customers can expect temporary service interruption for two to three hours during scheduled service restoration.
“Upgrading aging underground infrastructure is important for the safety and reliability of our natural gas distribution,” Perry said, adding that it would cost less to replace the pipes completely than to incrementally improve them. “These pipes have been serving Uniontown residents well for 50 years, and we want to install some that will serve them well for the next 50 to 100 years.”
Columbia Gas customers in the designated area will have their indoor meters relocated to the outside of the premises and their service lines replaced at no additional cost. Customers will receive a letter outlining project details, and a door hanger will be placed on their doors roughly three days before the line is replaced, Perry said. The company will set up specific times to replace piping, and Perry said customers should look for employee or contractor identification before allowing anyone into their home.
“On this Brown Street project, the oldest pipe being replaced dates back to 1927,” Perry said.
According to a Columbia Gas press release, the company invested nearly $1.1 billion in the modernization and expansion of its distribution system in Pennsylvania from 2007 to 2015 and will invest more than $160 million in upgrading underground infrastructure in 2016.
The new pipes will contract and expand with shifting temperatures and bend to the contour of earth around them, requiring less maintenance and lasting longer, according to an educational pipeline replacement video on the company’s website at columbiagaspa.com/pipelinereplacement.