elsewhere in the newsroom
July 29, 2006
Contact:
Matt Pitzarella
724.416.6313
mmpitzarella@nisource.com
Columbia Gas to
Upgrade 900 Feet of Natural Gas Pipe in Upper St. Clair
Part of ongoing, infrastructure improvement effort
CANONSBURG, PA - As part of an ongoing, system-wide infrastructure improvement effort, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania will replace 900 feet of 12" steel pipe along Southern Highland Drive in Upper St. Clair township.
Crews will begin construction on July 31 and expect to complete the upgrade by August 26. Some minor traffic restrictions may occur periodically at the intersection of Southern Highland Drive and Old Washington Road. The construction will not affect travel along Route 19.
Twenty homeowners from 72 to 97 Southern Highland Drive may be affected and have been notified of the work. Even-numbered addresses may experience brief service interruptions during normal business hours while crews safely complete the line upgrade.
"Columbia Gas is replacing around 50 miles of aging, underground mainline in Pennsylvania and replacing them with new, state of the art facilities," said Dan Cote, general manager of Columbia Gas. "This particular line runs eleven miles from Washington County to Allegheny County, and has served our customers well since it was originally installed in 1949."
The pipeline starts in Chartiers Township, Washington County near the intersection of Route 980 and Vista Drive and ends in Bethel Park at Milford Drive, near the Washington Junction "T" station in Allegheny County. Columbia Gas has been systematically upgrading the aging line by replacing older, existing sections of pipe each construction season.
Future phases include a half-mile of replacement near Southpointe Industrial Park and another quarter-mile in Hendersonville later this year.
Pennsylvania has some
of the oldest infrastructure in the country. Some sections of Columbia's
underground lines date back to the 1800's. The company is proactively
analyzing the region's aging infrastructure and replacing facilities as
necessary in order to continue to provide safe and reliable service to
our customers.
About
Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and Columbia Gas of Maryland
Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, with local headquarters in Canonsburg, serves
more than 410,000 customers in 27 counties. Columbia Gas of Maryland serves
more than 32,000 customers in three counties. More information about Columbia
Gas of Pennsylvania and Columbia Gas of Maryland is available on the World
Wide Web at www.columbiagas.com.
###
