US Williams begins greenfield construction on Marcellus gas pipeline

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Construction is underway in Pennsylvania on the greenfield portion of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project, US-based Williams Partners said on Monday.

The nearly $3bn project involves a 1.7bn cubic feet/day expansion of the existing Transco natural gas pipeline. It will connect Marcellus gas supplies with markets in the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern US and alleviate infrastructure bottlenecks in Pennsylvania.

Construction broke ground in Pennsylvania on 15 September as site preparation began for two new natural gas compressor facilities, the company said.

Construction began last spring on the mainline portion of the Atlantic Sunrise project, Williams said, which was designed to accommodate bi-directional flow on the existing Transco pipeline system.

A portion of the capacity created by those modifications was recently placed into service, Williams said.

Pipeline construction could begin as early as 25 September, the company said.