Contractors get extension in Lake Besek dam bid process
Work on Wallingford office building to start soon
City awaits Platts costs
Changes planned for Wallingford on-ramp to 15
Stonnington officials back affordable housing plan
NY architect chosen for Charter Oak School project
Outlet mall groundbreaking now September 26
$10m Federal transportation grant for New Haven's State Street Station
Projects at Uconn and Jackson Labratory on pace
Will employers be forced to spend $6B a year
Yankee Gas to tear up Grand Street in Waterbury
WATERBURY -- Yankee Gas will begin to install a new natural gas line underneath Grand Street next week.
The company did not provide an exact start date except to say the project will begin sometime during the week of Sept. 9.
The project entails building a 600-foot gas line that will serve the civil courthouse at 300 Grand St. Also, Yankee Gas will install a 300-foot gas line up State Street that connects to the AT&T building at 348 Grand St.
The new gas lines will feed into a natural gas main on Meadow Street, said Mitch Gross, a spokesman for Yankee Gas.
The civil courthouse plans to switch from oil to natural gas to heat the building, said Rhonda Stearley-Hebert, manager of communications for the Connecticut Judicial Branch.
She said the boilers are 35 years old -- the same age as the building.
"They were repaired to the point where they couldn't be repaired anymore," Hebert said.
The courthouse is replacing the boilers and converting to natural gas heating, which is in line with the state Office of Policy & Management's energy conservation program.
The state recommends converting to gas for the sake of conservation, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and because it is a cleaner form of energy, Hebert said.
The cost of the conversion at 300 Grand St. is about $300,000 she said. The criminal courthouse at 400 Grand St. is already heated by natural gas.
Meanwhile, AT&T's natural gas connection will be used to power a fuel cell, which AT&T is installing on the roof to generate electricity for the building.
Installing the underground gas line involves digging up Grand Street. The work will occur at night -- from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. -- and any holes in the road will be patched by morning, Gross said. There shouldn't be any disruption to traffic going through downtown.
Gross said Yankee Gas will work with the city when there are night meetings that go past 8 p.m. to make sure there is access to City Hall.
Yankee Gas will pay for the cost of installing the line on Grand and State streets -- about $100,000, Gross said. The project is expected to be finished by the end of September.