Work starts next week

Columbia Gas is starting a gas line replacement project in Chesapeake. Work will begin next week affecting about 287 residents and businesses.

The project will impact parts of the following areas of Chesapeake: Brown Street, Kelly Lane, Lunsford Lane, Third, Second and First avenues, Riverside Drive, Big Branch Road and other surrounding roadways. The work and clean-up, weather permitting, is expected to finish by the end of 2021.

All impacted customers have been notified.

Columbia Gas contractor, CJ Hughes, will work street by street to install new main lines first and then service lines up to each customer’s home or building.

Gas service will not be impacted until it is time to connect each customer to the new gas system at their meter. For most customers, gas service will be interrupted for approximately two to four hours. Customers will get advance notice of this service interruption.

Any surface that has to be disturbed will be repaired. This includes sidewalks, driveways, lawns and landscaping.

Upon completion, customers will have a fully modernized gas system with added safety features, such as:
• Excess flow valves (EFV): Customer service lines will have EFVs which are designed to restrict the flow of natural gas if a service line is damaged or broken.
• Exterior meters: Customers with indoor meters will have their meters relocated to the exterior to help first responders locate and shut off gas in an emergency.
• Plastic pipe: This specially designed plastic pipe, which has a longer shelf life and requires less maintenance, replaces bare steel and cast iron piping.

Columbia Gas has invested more than $1.5 billion in communities around the state to replace aging gas lines over the last decade.

This is paying off in safety with leaks being reduced by 40 percent.

Customers can contact Erica Chronaberry, external affairs specialist for Columbia Gas, with questions or concerns at (614) 309-7576 or echronaberry@nisource.com.

Visit ColumbiaGasOhio.com/Replacement for more information on the construction process.