National Grid has been commended for the way it has delivered essential gas main replacement works in Welwyn Garden City.
Work on the £1million scheme began in May 2009 and has involved the replacement of 3km of iron gas mains with new hard wearing plastic pipes in Bessemer Road, Bridge Road East, Broadwater Road and the junction of Black Fan Road and Herns Lane
The majority of the mains have now been replaced and work on the project recently finished for this year to ensure that local people enjoy reliable gas supplies over the winter. National Grid will return to the town in April 2010 to complete the project with the replacement of approximately 500metres of mains in Black Fan Road and Mundells. However the majority of this work will be carried out on roadside verges and should involve minimal disruption for road users.
Daniel Anderton, Assistant Network Manager – Operations, Mid West Herts Area, Hertfordshire Highways, whose headquarters is close to the location of the work, said: “I’m impressed at the speed at which these works have been completed and the professional manner that any issues have been dealt with.”
He added: “This site had the potential to be very difficult as it is a very traffic sensitive location. However in the end we received very few public enquiries regarding the work and this can only be testament to the hard work put in by National Grid and their contractors.”
The work has been carried out by the North London Gas Alliance, a partnership between National Grid and Skanska.
National Grid Project Engineer Vince Doggett, said: “I’d like to thank the local residents and businesses along with the various agencies we worked with for their patience and cooperation throughout this vital project. We always strive to deliver our projects with a minimum of disruption to the areas in which we are working. For example on this project we have been we have been inserting the new pipes into the old pipes wherever possible which means we do not have to dig as many excavations”.
He added: “We leave behind a network of new mains which should help ensure the local community enjoy safe and reliable gas supplies in the coming decades.”
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For further media information contact, Antony Quarrell, National Grid Media Relations on 07810 853075