Hockley Road, Rayleigh

We are upgrading the gas pipes along Bristol Gardens to ensure you continue to receive a reliable gas supply for many more years to come. Our aim is to replace all the metallic mains and service pipes in these locations. This means that we will need to excavate holes in the ground to access the gas pipes in order to inspect and replace them.

We anticipate the project duration to be 10 weeks. If any changes are required, we will keep you informed.
Due to the nature of the work involved, we have planned to deliver it in a number of phases to maximise efficiency and minimise disruption.

Starting 24 July 2023 for ten weeks

Phase 1: two weeks
The first phase will begin at the roundabout with Hambro Hill. 80m of the existing gas pipe will be replaced.

Phase 2: two weeks
Continuing along High Road, a further 150m of the existing gas pipe will be replaced.

Phase 3: two weeks
125m of the existing gas pipe will be replaced.

Phase 4: two weeks
110m of the existing gas pipe will be replaced.
During this phase the bus stop by The Gattens will be suspended and used for storage.

Phase 5: two weeks
115m of the existing gas pipe will be replaced.

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FAQs

How are you going to deliver the work?
Due to the nature of the work involved, we have planned to deliver it in a number of phases to maximise efficiency and minimise disruption.

What impact will our work have on the roads?
In order to deliver the work safely, a road closure will be in place during the first three phases of work. We will let you know at each stage the traffic management required for each phase.  This could also include traffic lines and lane closures.

Will my gas supply be affected?
For a short time, yes.  The works we are completing are on the medium-pressure gas pipes. This means we will need to turn your gas supply off and will require access to your property.   In the majority of cases, where we turn off gas supplies, this will be for less than one day, starting from approx. 7.30-8.30am until approximately 8pm at night. Most people are back on gas again by 7.00pm. We do appreciate this is still a long time, so before we turn off the gas supply, our team will provide fan heaters and appliances for cooking to households where a person or people are registered on the Priority Services Register (PSR) or is identified as vulnerable by our engineers.

Are you able to complete the works faster?
Our work to replace ageing gas mains is a major engineering project and we are working hard to complete it as soon as we can. Where possible we try to reduce the duration of our works and their impact. The project has been carefully planned with the local authority, so it is carried out as efficiently as possible. We use innovative methods and technology to minimise disruption and reduce the time taken to do this work.

How much space do you require to carry out these works safely ?
The amount of road space taken up will vary throughout the project and will be minimised at all times. The scale and extent of this project and the size of the pipes mean we need to use heavy machinery and equipment. To allow us room to manoeuvre this equipment, and to maintain site safety, we need this amount of space. We also have to take account of the position of the existing gas mains.

I can’t see anyone on site – what does this mean?
Although it may appear that no one is working on site, it doesn’t mean that work has been completed. We need to be able to work at different locations to insert pipes, make connections and to carry out testing. It is only once we are satisfied that the new pipe is safely supplying gas to customers that we can fill in the excavation and clear up the site.

Will you reinstate the roads once the project is complete?
Once the work is complete, we will reinstate all excavations and trenches to nationally approved highways standards. We match the colour and texture to the existing surfaces wherever practicable.

What are you doing with the green box in some of our gardens?
Where possible we will also endeavour to remove the individual gas regulator (the green garden box) feeding your property.

Will I be compensated for loss of trade?
There is a compensation scheme in place for small businesses that suffer genuine loss of trade due to our work.  For a leaflet and details of the scheme please call 0800 389 5555.

Will the new main have an increased capacity so new consumers can be added in the future? Apart from safety are there other benefits of the project?
The simple answer is yes, with the new plastic mains we are able to increase the pressure and carry more gas to deal with any increase in demand in the future. To be more specific. the old metallic main currently runs at the lower end of the medium pressure system (550mb). The current main would allow us to raise the pressures slightly if we had greater demand although not much and this would potentially run the risk of causing leaks on any weak points.   By installing the plastic main we have the capability to up the pressure to the full 2Bar this is 4x the current pressure levels. The plastic main that we insert are tested at this pressure over a long period of time when they are installed to give us every confidence that should we ever have to run the system at the highest demand there would be no leaks at joints.

Who is doing the work?
All work is being carried out on our behalf by Morrison Energy Services and their delivery partner Terrafirma Pipeline Ltd.