Colorado Springs is a beautiful city with breathtaking views and highly-variable topography. However, with that topographical variability comes a widespread network of normally dry creeks and tributaries that can suddenly carry a wall of water from rain or melting snow.
The challenge for us is that these creeks cannot be avoided when designing, installing and maintaining a massive network of pipes and wires. With each successive storm, utilities pipes that must cross these creeks are subjected to violent flows of water and eroding soils that compromise their stability.
Investing in our natural gas system
Of all the pipes that cross local creeks, natural gas distribution mains are of particular concern. That’s why they are among the natural gas pipes targeted for replacement as part of a $9 million annual investment called the Distribution Integrity Management Program (DIMP). The program is intended to assess, upgrade and protect the hundreds of miles of pipes that deliver natural gas to homes and businesses.
Kettle Creek gas main replacement project
The $1.8 million Kettle Creek gas main replacement project will install a new 20-inch diameter high pressure natural gas main beneath Kettle Creek, near Old Ranch Road and Interquest Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs. The project is expected to be complete in April 2023 and will serve more than 70,000 customers with safe and reliable natural gas on the north side of the city. It includes 1,600 feet of pipe weighing more than 50 tons and replaces an aging 18” diameter pipe that is currently exposed in the creek due to erosion.
The Kettle Creek gas project is a complex undertaking for a variety of reasons. It requires:
- A work schedule that does not interfere with the habitat of the protected Preble’s Meadow Jumping Mouse.
- Specialized and well-trained design and construction teams that are thankfully available in-house.
- Parallel coordination with our water construction engineering and construction teams for the installation of a new 16-inch diameter water main in the same general area.
In-house skillset saves customers more than $5 million
Design, planning, environmental and construction teams from across Colorado Springs Utilities play instrumental roles in the Kettle Creek project. Their training and skills make them uniquely suited to a project that requires adherence to specialized safety, design and construction standards. To find similar skills on the outside market would have swelled the project budget from $1.8 million to $7.2 million – resulting in a $5.4 million cost savings for customers.
To install the new pipe underneath Kettle Creek, crews must bore deep into the bottom of the creek to provide a clear path for the new gas main. To achieve this, we hired one external contractor to operate the 65,000 pound bore machine required to dig through the creek bed with 35 foot long bore rods that weigh around a thousand pounds each.
“The Kettle Creek project demonstrates the complexity and importance of improving the integrity of our gas system,” said Travas Deal, Acting Chief Executive Officer. “Beyond the size and scope of the effort, we’re most excited about how these projects demonstrate the benefits of skilled and well-trained employees and how they are dedicated to managing customer rates without compromising safety or reliability.”
