Construction is officially underway in Pennsylvania on the greenfield portion of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project – an expansion of the existing Transco natural gas pipeline to connect abundant Marcellus gas supplies with markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S.

Construction broke ground in Pennsylvania Sept. 15, 2017, in Columbia and Wyoming counties as site preparation began for two new natural gas compressor facilities. Compressor Station 605 is a new 30,000-horsepower facility in Clinton Township (Wyoming County, Pa.), being constructed by VEC, Inc., while Compressor Station 610 is a new 40,000 horsepower facility in Orange Township (Columbia County, Pa.) being constructed by LMC Industrial Contractors, Inc. Construction began last spring on the mainline portion of the Atlantic Sunrise project designed to accommodate bi-directional flow on the existing Transco pipeline system. A portion of the capacity created by these mainline modifications was recently placed into service.

Williams has worked closely with permitting agencies to minimize environmental and stakeholder impacts, making modifications to more than half of the original pipeline route.  In addition, Williams has worked with local stakeholders to provide an additional $2.5 million for conservation projects located within the project area.

With all necessary permits and construction releases in place, Williams plans to begin pipeline construction in Pennsylvania as early as Sept. 25, 2017. Pipeline construction will consist of eight different construction spreads, six of which will be working concurrently in eight Pennsylvania counties. The 186-mile pipeline installation will be completed by four primary construction contractors (Henkels & McCoy, Inc., Latex Construction Company, Inc., Michels Corporation and Welded Construction).

Pipeline and compressor station construction is anticipated to last approximately 10 months, weather permitting. The nearly $3 billion project, which is designed to increase natural gas deliveries by 1.7 billion cubic feet per day, is scheduled to be placed into full service in mid-2018.

During peak construction periods, the project is anticipated to directly employ approximately 2,300 people in 10 Pennsylvania counties. In addition, the project could support an additional 6,000 jobs in related industries and generate up to $1.6 billion in economic activity, according to researchers at Pennsylvania State University.

Williams is making it easy for its contractors to purchase goods and services from local businesses, last week launching a new mobile app – known as WillShop Local — to help connect construction personnel with local service providers.

Additional information about the Atlantic Sunrise project can be found at www.williams.com/atlanticsunrise.