Beginning in May, AltaGas will be replacing the network of gas mains and services that lay beneath the streets and alleys of downtown Athabasca. Seven kilometres of steel gas mains and three kilometres of gas services will be replaced, while 290 gas services will be upgraded.
Gas mains are larger gas lines that run down the middle of downtown alleys, and gas services are the small pipes that branch off the mains and run to each customer.
AltaGas regional manager of distribution operations Dennis Saby appeared before town council last Tuesday.
He said the project will be rolled out in four phases and last approximately six months.
“It’s a big project, and there is a lot of work involved,” Saby said.
The project will be decommissioning the current lines, which are made of pre-1957 steel, and laying new lines made of plastic.
“Plastic pipe is much easier to work with,” Saby said.
Councillor Tanu Tyszka-Evans asked what will be happening to the old steel lines currently in the ground. Saby explained that the new plastic lines will be placed using directional drilling techniques and the old steel lines will remain in the ground.
“We cap them off and seal them so nothing can get into them … we can’t pull them out,” Saby said.
In the summer of 2013, AltaGas hired a contractor to replace the lines in the east hill and surrounding area. That project took seven weeks.
“The downtown is a little more congested … it will present its own challenges,” Saby said.
Customers will receive 72 hours written or verbal notice of any disruptions that will occur. The major disruptions will occur in the areas where different lines connect. These T-connections must be dug out completely.
“We will try to minimize the disruption as much as possible,” Saby said.
Phase one of the project is set to begin May 1, depending on frost conditions on the high school hill. Phase two encompasses the east side of the downtown and moves west to the central core for phase three, and finally the west side of downtown in phase four.
“It’s to try and minimize the impacts on the town,” Saby said of the phase process.
According to town chief administrative officer Ryan Maier, the town is fully supportive of the project.
“They’re wanting to upgrade the infrastructure, and it goes to overall safety and efficiency, so it’s definitely something we would support,” he said in an interview.
The same thought was expressed by Mayor Roger Morrill.
“I was very impressed that AltaGas was doing the preemptive discussions with our community,” Morrill said.
Morrill also addressed the town’s involvement in handling any disruptions that may occur. He stressed that lines of communication will stay open between AltaGas and the town.
“I’m quite certain we will get involved as necessary … we have to be very careful of how things transpire.”
