COLUMBIA GAS TO LAY LINES UNDER RIVER

$7.5 million project to link Maumee, Perrysburg begins

7/17/2014
BY CHIP TOWNS
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
  • b5pipeline

    Columbia Gas said the Maumee River Crossing Project should be completed by the end of October.

    THE BLADE/MATT THOMPSON
    Buy This Image

  • Columbia Gas said the Maumee River Crossing Project should be completed by the end of October.
    Columbia Gas said the Maumee River Crossing Project should be completed by the end of October.

    Work has begun on a natural gas line that will run under the Maumee River between Maumee and Perrysburg.

    The $7.5 million project, which was revealed in February after Columbia Gas of Ohio Inc. sought state regulatory approval, is expected to be finished by the end of October.

    At a news conference on Wednesday at Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, Columbia Gas officially unveiled what it calls the Maumee River Crossing Project.

    The company will install 5,300 feet of 20-inch-wide coated steel pipeline that will run from Mohawk Drive in Maumee to just west of Fort Meigs, then eastward along West River Road in Perrysburg, where it will connect with existing pipeline.

    When it is completed, it will replace a 12-inch-wide bare steel pipeline that was installed in the 1940s. That pipeline will be left in place after it is purged of natural gas and both ends are capped.


    The new pipeline will be 30 to 40 feet below the bottom of the Maumee River.

    Using horizontal directional boring technology, a path for the pipeline will be drilled under the river.

    “We know the history in this area and will have an archaeologist on site to make sure any artifacts are excavated and preserved,” said Chris Kozak, Columbia Gas spokesman.

    The company said it was working with historical organizations on both sides of the river to ensure any artifact found will be shared with the community.

    On the north side of the river, the pipeline will go under Side Cut Metropark. On the south side, it will go under land owned by the city of Perrysburg.

    Columbia Gas said it would help build a city park on land above the pipeline in Perrysburg. Details were not immediately available.