Natural Gas Distribution Utility
Davey helped a natural gas utility complete an inspection and leak detection project for farm taps located in rural areas of Northeast and Northwest Ohio, finishing before the scheduled timeline and within financial goals.
The Challenge
For natural gas utilities, safe and fully functioning pipelines are crucial for customers to receive reliable service. To make sure pipelines are up to code, gas utilities are required by state and federal regulations to conduct periodic leak detections and inspections. For natural gas systems that run through rural areas, this includes farm taps.
Farm taps allow residents in rural areas to tap directly into a transmission pipeline when there is no distribution system in place. Much like other distribution systems, farm taps require regularly scheduled inspections and leak detections to ensure they are safe and within regulatory compliance.
An Ohio-based natural gas utility needed to perform leak detection and inspections on farm tap pressure regulators and meters throughout Northeast and Northwest Ohio. Tapping into their long-term relationship established on a variety of vegetation management and environmental consulting projects, the utility called on Davey to conduct the assessments.
The Solution
Davey experts performed leak surveys and atmospheric corrosion evaluations on 2,600 farm tap meters throughout rural Ohio to check the status service of the pipe’s integrity. The crew also photographed the pressure regulators to document what condition they were in.
The data was collected in TaskOp, a custom software program used by the natural gas company, to document and manage any mitigation needs that ensure the safe delivery of natural gas to its customers.
The Result
Once complete, the crew’s findings were reported to the utility for corrective action. Davey was scheduled to work on the inspection for three months but completed the project early and within the utility’s financial goals.
The utility was pleased with Davey’s inspections, saying they went “above and beyond” expectations. Because of this project, Davey has been awarded a multi-year contract for additional services.
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