Lehi City News
Months-long gas line work in 900 North area to be completed in October
Nichole Coombs | Lehi Free Press
The end is near for Lehi City residents frustrated by road construction at 1200 East 900 North in Lehi. Enbridge Gas says phase three of the gas line replacement project will finish in October and the roads will be open to commuters and pedestrians.
This gas line replacement project was designed in four phases. The line at 1200 East and 900 North is called line 26 and is part of phase three.
“Line 26 replacement is part of a program started by Utah in 2010,” said Brock Anderson, Enbridge project manager. “The program’s initiative was to replace all of our aging infrastructure for our high-pressure gas lines that were [constructed] pre-1970. Line 26 was installed in 1960.”
With population and business growth in Lehi, demand for natural gas increases. The current gas line is a 20-inch diameter pipe. The replacement line is a 24-inch pipe. This new pipe is considered the backbone or the transportation line for natural gas. Large volumes move through the pipe before entering a regulation station, where pressure is decreased, and natural gas is delivered to homes and businesses.
“The pipe we are replacing wasn’t in danger of failing, but rather we are getting ahead of the growth to make sure we can accommodate our customers with the natural gas they need,” said Anderson.
Anderson says laying these steel pipes is different from installation of other city utilities like sewer and water.
“These steel pipelines are under a lot of federal requirements for safety. So, when pipe A is welded to pipe B, we need a protective coating to prevent corrosion, which must be inspected multiple times before we can finally lay it in the ditch. And when we finally put it in the ditch, we have to take additional precautions to protect it. So, it’s a longer process.”
Anderson says new safety guidelines will make these pipes last for the next 100 years.
1200 East is challenging because it’s one of Lehi’s original roads. Anderson says there are many utilities buried on top of one another, so digging, replacing, and removing the old pipe while maneuvering around other active and abandoned utilities takes time.
“Finding room for a 24-inch pipeline in some of those spaces has been very time-consuming,” said Anderson. “One of the challenges we have on that road is fiber. We’ve had to work with Lehi fiber and pay them to relocate some of their fiber running lines, so we have a better running line for our 24-inch pipe.”
The construction on 900 North is complicated because a high-pressure line runs east to west beneath the intersection. The north-to-south pipe needs to be tied into that pipe and replaced.
“We have to tie into that line, so in order to do that, we had to go in and remove a lot of our old infrastructure, and then we had to go really deep [into the ground] to make space to install the 24-inch pipeline,” said Anderson. “That’s why that intersection has been closed for so long.” Enbridge plans to tie into those pipes by the end of September, and then the road will be restored. Anderson says drivers and residents can plan to use the road starting in mid-October.
“The good news is everyone who has been impacted by this construction project now won’t have to experience it again. We will be able to monitor these new pipes from above, so we won’t have a need to dig anything up,” said Anderson.
Phase four of this project has already started in the Traverse Mountain area, but Anderson says this phase won’t impact the community as much as phase three has this year.
“The residents we’ve worked with have been good,” said Anderson. “The city has been awesome. We’ve had a good experience working in Lehi.”
Enbridge has provided an email for residents impacted by the construction. These emails go directly to the project manager. You can reach out by www.enbridgegas.com/about-enbridge-gas/projects/gas-feeder-line-26. This link also provides updates on the project.
