Pipeline project is under way
Photo
Pipeline workers prepare to install a section of pipeline off of W. Stark Road west of Highway 51 on Janesville's north side.
JANESVILLE — While the presence of heavy construction equipment and large pipes is appealing to kids out of school, people are being asked to steer clear of the 8.8-mile natural gas pipeline project on Janesville’s northeast side.
“We have a concern for public safety and want to do everything we can to make sure no one gets hurt,” said Phillip Bohannon, project manager for The ANR Pipeline of Houston, a subsidiary of TransCanada, that is burying the 30-inch natural gas pipeline.
The $39 million project, which will increase capacity in the Madison/Janesville area, is scheduled to go into service around October. Thanks to good summer weather, the project is on schedule, he said.
Bohannon said the company has a particular concern in the Briar Crest neighborhood, where crews are starting to weld pipe together.
Contractors are working in a 50-foot easement along Highway 14, where the project starts at Drott Drive south of Milwaukee Street. The route continues northwest behind the Pine Tree Plaza and the backside of the Mercy property on Deerfield Drive and Walmart Supercenter and Sam’s Club. It crosses Rotamer Road and Kennedy Road, heading out of Janesville.
The majority of the project’s piping rests along the route, he said
The route runs through one of the busiest areas in Janesville, at least from a traffic standpoint.
Bohannon said crews are using directional drills to run the pipe under Highway 14 and Interstate 90/39. Starting on one side of the road, crews drill through to the other side and then attach the pipe, which is then pulled back below the roadway.
Michels Construction, which is now hitting its peak in terms of employment, is the prime contractor on the project.
Bohannon said about 150 people are working on the project, and while crews have moved more than 100,000 tons of steel, no time has been lost to injury.
Crews also are upgrading a compressor station on the north side of the city.
Bohannon said ANR will meet its Aug. 15 deadline for completion of a portion of the project north of Highway 14 where the city plans to expand its bike trail
The bike trail’s 1.8-mile expansion falls in the middle of the pipeline project and is scheduled to start Aug. 15 and end Oct. 15. The new stretch will begin at Highway 14 and Wright Road, extend west on Highway 14 then curve north around the edge of Best Buy, Pine Tree Plaza and Walmart and end at Tanglewood Drive.
Jul 15, 2010 at 8:02 p.m.
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It's amazing how much people complain and moan about things they have no idea about. All they think about is their quarter acre and consider nothing else in the world. This is a great project that invests in the infrastructure of our area - that the city didn't pay for.
This project has put 150 people to work, pay taxes, and provide for their families. Why complain about it?
Jul 15, 2010 at 2:56 p.m.
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The trenches are wider than you think they need to be due to OSHA safety rules governing trenching. The rule states that excavations shall be sloped at an angle not steeper than one and one-half horizontal to one vertical (34 degrees measured from the horizontal. If you don't slope in this manner you will then be required to use shoring which is much more labor intensive.
Jul 15, 2010 at 11:15 a.m.
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Yes I'm sure they know what they are doing...they've been doing it for 50 years!!
Jul 15, 2010 at 9:13 a.m.
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I'm sure they don't have to dig such a big trench for the pipes, they probably decided to do it that way just to make people curious. You can probably relax a bit, I'm sure they know what they are doing since it's all they do.
Jul 15, 2010 at 9:04 a.m.
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Really - "Pipeline project is under way" - ??? This thing goes through my back yard a hundred feet from my house, and I assure you, they've been there since before Memorial Day. Worse, because they are running out of room in the easement, they made us (yes, if we had not agreed, they would have gone to court) grant them an additional temporary easement (sure they paid us, but the trees are gone) behind the permanent one. The only reason they couldn't destroy as many trees as they would have is that the DNR declared a small piece of the property a wetland. They are there day and into the evening, but I admit except for one time when they started at 6:15 a.m. (prevented in the future by a phone call) and the incessant beeping of the heavy equipment, they have stayed in the posted easement and have not caused any issues.
Jul 15, 2010 at 6:06 a.m.
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The pipes are large, but do they really have to dig up so much land to put the pipe in the ground. You would think they are making a divided highway because the digging is so wide.
Jul 14, 2010 at 9:44 p.m.
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AAAhahahahaha! Best4Kids you made my day!!!! Laughing with you, not at you. Thanks for sharing.
Jul 14, 2010 at 4:40 p.m.
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ANR is a private pipeline company with a federally-regulated easement that happens to run through Janesville. It's their investment, not ours. The city is spending money to expand the trail on this easement, but it isn't very expensive -- basically asphalt, grass, and some signs.
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The problem with the tunnel was utility relocations underneath the street, making it three times as expensive as originally thought. The city has already shown the council its proposal for an alternative that will be about as safe as that crossing can be made without actually separating the traffic. The council will be considering that proposal with a public hearing shortly.
Jul 14, 2010 at 4:35 p.m.
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I doubt the city is spending a dime on the project. If anything, the city gets money for letting the pipe go through. You know, you gotta pay the Troll!
If I was a kid I'd be down on Ruger playing, not in the pipes. It sure brings back memories of when I played on Ruger when it went from a two lane asphalt road to the concrete road we have today. We had the bike trail, too, except it was a dirt path, and nobody plowed it in winter.
Jul 14, 2010 at 4:33 p.m.
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@ best4kids: The city isn't putting the pipeline in. This is another natural gas line coming from Canada.
Jul 14, 2010 at 4:14 p.m.
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The city can spend money on a pipeline, and on expanding the bike trail, yet apparently there is not enough money to make the bike trail at Milwaukee Street safer by putting in a tunnel. I am confused.....
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