Aging gas lines at root of recent pipe breaks in South Lake Tahoe

Submitted by paula on Fri, 09/27/2019 - 11:36am

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Construction crews hit two different gas lines this week near the Y in South Lake Tahoe, causing a break in the line and evacuations.

On Monday, a contractor's crew hit a gas line on Julie Lane, followed by another crew in the area of D and Dedi Streets breaking a line on Tuesday.

It wasn't a lack of knowing where the gas lines are located to caused both situations, but more of an aging infrastructure of pipes that aren't all placed at the same depth beneath the surface.

"Southwest Gas inherited this gas system," said South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) Battalion Chief Jay Manning, part of the team who responded on Tuesday. "Where normally a gas line is three feet below they are finding pipes less than six inches under the grade."

"When they start digging, the pipes shouldn't be there," Manning explained. "Like when you're digging for a fence post you don't know how deep pipes are when locating them."

Southwest Gas has been working on several pipeline replacement projects in South Lake Tahoe and will be completing their 2019 work on October 15 (the end of the Lake Tahoe Basin digging season).

"The project on D Street includes the replacement of approximately 2,000 feet of vintage steel natural gas pipe," said a SWGas spokesperson.

The pipes that have been two-inch pipes and lead into the six-inch gas main pipes.

"Southwest Gas has a depth standard for all pipe in our system," said the SWGas spokesperson. "There are many circumstances in which the depth of the pipe may change based on grading that occurs above the installed infrastructure. Since acquiring the natural gas system in South Lake Tahoe 14 years ago, Southwest Gas consistently acts swiftly to correct any pipe that is found to be installed at a depth that does not adhere to our high safety standards."

It is still very important to call 811 whenever digging into the dirt to get the direction of lines, and to aso be away of the varying depths they are located, especially on old systems.