SUNDRE — Residents who frequent the walking path along the south bank of the Bearberry Creek undoubtedly noticed a trench that was dug out and cordoned off by the municipality last week.
“We are putting in a three-inch gas main loop to connect the Bearberry river crossing for natural gas,” Jim Hall, Sundre’s operations manager, said last week in response to questions.
“We found one of our pipes exposed by some stream flow. So, we’re going to abandon it and attach this loop on both sides of the creek to re-tie in supply,” Hall explained.
As the municipality owns and operates the gas distribution system, the town’s gas utility operators are tackling the task at hand, which Hall hopes to have completed within the coming weeks.
After the exposed pipe was discovered, a design for the new loop and tie-in was completed in March, he said.
Excavation for the trench on the south side of the creek started last week. Once the new pipe is in place, the town crew will backfill the trench before proceeding to repeat the work on the north side, he said.
Since the project was an emergent issue, the cost — estimated to run up around $50,000 — was not previously budgeted, he said.
Chris Albert, Sundre’s director of corporate services, said gas department-related expenses incurred as a result of emergent issues are drawn from the municipality's Utilities Lifecycling restricted surplus account.
