Project is on schedule.

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

The Brunswick Pipeline has reached a couple milestones as it stays on schedule for a November deadline. One of which, is the successful completion of a pilot horizontal directional drill (HDD) hole under the St. John River. The other, is completing the 2.4 km stretch of pipeline through Rockwood Park.

Horizontal directional drilling means directionally drilling a hole under the river from bank to bank and pulling the pipe section through. Now that the pilot drill is complete, workers can begin to widen the hole in order to fit the 30 inch natural gas pipe through.

"The geology under the river is very consistent, it's solid granite, so we feel we'll be successful," said Robin McAdam, President of Brunswick Pipeline.

The company is keeping its fingers crossed there won't be any major set backs that prevent the underground river crossing from going ahead. Already, crews were a bit dismayed when their pilot drill hole didn't meet up in the middle where it was supposed to during the first try. Apparently magnetic disruption from the underground rock affected the GPS systems used to guide workers as they drilled two holes, one from each bank of the river.

McAdam says they're preparing for a public hearing with the National Energy Board to be held later this summer just in case something else goes wrong and they can't complete the HDD. The hearing will be regarding a plan "B" to place the pipeline on the river bed floor instead of under the river.

"We're really just cranking up construction for the summer season and we feel good about where we are on the schedule," said McAdam. "We expect to be complete by November, so people can expect to see a lot more construction activity over the next few months both in the urban and rural areas."

Now that pipeline construction is out of the way in Rockwood Park, the company can focus on the new trail around Lily Lake that Brunswick Pipeline has financed.

"It will be another week or two before that's done," said McAdam. Work by the city to improve the roadways and other park upgrades will take place over the next couple of years.

The Brunswick Pipeline will connect the Canaport LNG terminal in Saint John to the existing Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline near St. Stephen. Through its 145 km of pipeline, it will deliver a significant supply of natural gas to consumers in both the Maritimes and the northeastern United States.

"This is a very important project for the region," said Chris Huskilson, President and CEO of Emera, the parent company to Brunswick Pipeline. "Bringing liquefied natural gas and ultimately natural gas into this market is something that's going to be good for all of the residents in this region because a supply of natural gas provides clean energy and another source of energy other than oil."

Huskilson says just having more natural gas in the area will improve the local market. Right now the Sable Island project supplies the Maritimes with natural gas, but he says if that ever dries up, the Brunswick Pipeline will be able to feed this market. In the meantime, large customers will still be able to tap into the Brunswick Pipeline once it's up and running.

With two major milestones under their belt, Emera-Brunswick Pipeline will now focus on welding together the pipes, backfilling the right-of-ways, testing the pipeline, and cleaning up.

"If we didn't have the support from many people in the community we wouldn't be making these milestones," said Huskilson. "We're very appreciative of that support and that's really what has led to this success."