NGC said following approval from the Horizons Regional Council, site work would start immediately and the whole project was scheduled to be completed by the end of April.
The permanent crossing will replace the temporary two-tower pipeline connection that has been serving Hawke’s Bay natural gas customers since early March. Severe floods washed out the Pohangina River Bridge in mid-February and left NGC’s gas transmission pipe in a precarious position.
The new crossing is located about 60m downstream of the former bridge location and involves the installation of 540m of 8-inch pipe, about 144m of which will be encased in concrete and laid in a trench under the river bed.
Following completion of the permanent crossing, the temporary aerial crossing will be decommissioned and dismantled. A telecommunications cable that has also been attached to NGC’s temporary aerial pipeline crossing will be relocated to a temporary bailey bridge nearing completion on Saddle Road.
NGC trumpeted its own “Two Towers” saga - aka the second Lord of the Rings trilogy from New Zealand’s Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson - when NGC announced the temporary pipeline solution.
