Cast Iron Replacement Milestone Video Transcript

Today we retire the last bit of cast iron out of the Lehigh area.

A cast iron natural gas main dating back to 1912 replaced in Easton, followed by a cast iron main in Manheim Township, Lancaster County installed in 1929.

With the completion of these two projects UGI’s last identified cast iron main projects are now done about a year ahead of schedule.

Just knowing that we are making the public safer by removing all this main out of service, this main was in the ground for so many years.

While UGI was already in the process of replacing cast iron, the Allentown explosion in 2011 led to an accelerated effort. The intensified replacement plan began in 2013 with a deadline to have all cast iron retired by early 2027.

It is such a huge achievement coming in ahead of the deadline and also just being able to do the amount of miles that we did in the short period of time is really amazing.

UGI replaced more than 400 miles of cast iron during the accelerated replacement effort.

The project spanned the entire service area from Lackawanna County in the north to Cumberland County in the west.

Northampton County in the east and Lancaster County in the south and many communities in between.

The effort took more than 5,000 days and the work of hundreds of UGI and contractor crew members.

Operations, tapping, engineering, communications, coordination, sales, everyone had a part in this.

The upgrades strengthen the safety of the natural gas distribution system and increase it’s reliability.

We have a higher delivery pressure, we have safety devices in place, we have meters being put outside.

So really, as well as the pipe being installed in the ground, this overall big picture is huge for safety for UGI and for its customers.

UGI’s investment in this accelerated main replacement effort has surpassed 1.5 billion dollars.

It doesn’t end here my job continues, so now we’re replacing some bare steel mains and it continues as we learn of different materials and the safety measures of those. We’re getting them out of the ground and were putting new material in.

Thank you to all the people that were involved in this project throughout these years. It’s great that we completed this goal and we are ready for the next one coming up.

As UGI marks this major milestone the work continues to provide the safest and most reliable natural gas service. UGI’s mission is to make sure everyone and everything is always safe.