Jacobs Engineering awarded Pipeline Safety Enhancement Program contract by SoCalGas

US-based Jacobs Engineering Group has been awarded a project management services contract by Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) for the Pipeline Safety Enhancement Program in US.

The contract will be for five years, with the potential for another five one-year extensions.

As a part of the programme, Phase 1A will involve pressure testing of about 360 miles of existing pipelines, replacing about 246 miles of the 3,750 mile pipeline system, and upgrading or replacing 173 mainline valves.

SoCalGas is expecting clearance of approval of the Pipeline Safety Enhancement Program from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in mid-2013.

The company developed the Pipeline Safety Enhancement Program in line with state regulations that require natural gas transmission pipeline operators to submit plans about replacing or pressure testing of all natural gas transmission pipelines that have not been pressure tested.

The CPUC has ordered the state’s four natural gas transmission pipeline operators, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southwest Gas, San Diego Gas & Electric and SoCalGas, to develop the plan.

SoCalGas vice president of engineering and operations staff Rick Morrow said that Jacobs is participating in the company’s largest natural gas testing and replacement programme.

Jacobs executive vice president Gary Mandel said; "With our corporate headquarters located in Pasadena, many Jacobs employees are SoCalGas customers, and we are committed to leveraging our capabilities to support SoCalGas in their mission to deliver safe and reliable natural gas."

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Image: Jacobs Engineering Group will provide project management services for SoCalGas’s Pipeline Safety Enhancement Program. Photo: courtesy of Rosemary Oakeshott.