We have developed a project to fully replace nearly 600 metres of metal pipes along London Road and some surrounding streets from Stanford Road to the railway crossing.
The existing pipes were laid in 1930 and over the years there have been multiple repairs, resulting in extensive traffic management. This project will eliminate the need for recurrent repairs and also enhance the reliability of our gas network to ensure customers are safe and warm long into the future.
While we planned this work very carefully, we’ve encountered multiple unforeseen engineering difficulties, meaning we can no longer insert the new gas pipe into the existing gas pipe as planned, and we need to dig an open excavation for the full length of the pipe to upgrade it.
We have had to change the engineering method to ensure that we can maintain a continued safe and reliable gas supply whilst we carry out these works, now and into the future, for all homes and businesses in the area.
The traffic management phases have also changed:
Engineering teams will be working Monday to Friday: 07:00 – 19:00
Reinstatement teams will be working Saturday: 08:00-16:00 and Sunday: 09:00-13:00 reinstatement teams.
There will be a traffic management operative onsite Monday to Sunday: 07:00 – 19:00 to monitor the traffic flow and manually control in peak hours.
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Our work to replace ageing gas mains is a major engineering project, which we’ve planned carefully with the local authority and where possible, we’ll use innovative methods and technology to minimise disruption and reduce the time taken to do this work.
We need to carry out our work during the day as we need access to properties to upgrade their gas service (that’s the smaller pipe that connects gas to their property). When we do this, we need to turn off their gas supply temporarily, test their gas appliances and turn their gas back on.
We’ve notified the bus companies of our works and plans are in place for buses to follow the diversions. Bus stop suspensions will be in place during the final phase of works.
This is a common question we encounter; we’ve contacted the refuse companies to advise them of our work and we’ll work closely with them to ensure collections take place as normal on the dedicated day each week.
There may be times when the team isn’t visible on site during the allotted hours. Although it may appear that no one is working at the site itself, they’ll be working in surrounding roads to insert pipes, make connections and to carry out testing, as well as allow for concrete curing. It is only once we are satisfied that the new pipe is safely supplying gas to customers that we can fill in the holes and tidy up.
Should the need arise, emergency vehicles will need to follow the short diversions.
Yes, we will maintain access to properties during road closures.
Yes, we will endeavour to keep footpaths open as the majority of our pipes are in the carriageway
Yes, HGV’s will need to follow the signposted diversions.
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