Shoring up its infrastructure reliability in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens while also courting new customers, National Grid said Friday it will begin construction of the Brooklyn/Queens Interconnect project this week, which will be the first pipeline to be installed in the area in 50 years.

The 1.6 miles of 26- and 12-inch diameter coated steel pipeline will connect the company’s existing distribution systems in Brooklyn and Queens. The $83 million project includes the installation of pipeline underneath the Rockaway Inlet beginning at Beach 169th Street in the Rockaways, parallel to the Marine Parkway Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, to the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Aviation Road in Brooklyn.

The new 12-inch diameter pipeline will connect National Grid’s existing distribution systems in Brooklyn and Queens, providing a back-feed for both areas and “ensuring adequate natural gas supplies” for the Rockaways. The 26-inch diameter pipeline will connect to the Williams Transco proposed Rockaway Delivery Lateral Project, which will provide “a needed additional natural gas delivery point” for New York City from the existing Transco system. The Williams project is currently under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see Daily GPI, Jan. 9).

“We are investing heavily in our gas infrastructure to ensure reliability, safety and to connect our customers to the energy they need to heat their homes and run their businesses in the most economic manner,” said Ken Daly, president of National Grid New York. “This project is critical to provide the additional clean economical natural gas supplies that our customers need; it supports the regional environmental goals, and it will help the local community in its ongoing rebuilding efforts.”

In addition to increasing the reliability of its system, National Grid, which serves 3.4 million natural gas customers in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, said the project will allow for more conversions to natural gas. The project, to be completed in two phases, is expected to be finished in November.

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