EDL awarded the pipeline development, which was in its early stages, to Burns & McDonnell under an engineer-procure-construct (EPC) delivery model. The first phase included routing, preliminary engineering, right-of-way acquisition support, surveying, environmental field delineations and early permitting agency consultations. It concluded with competitive bidding for the construction, equipment and materials for the pipeline connection.
Land acquisition was successfully accomplished despite challenges. As a developer-led project, routing had to be achieved through cooperation with landowners and municipalities; EDL had no condemnation rights and could not utilize public right-of-way.
The second phase of the pipeline work consisted of detailed design, procurement, expediting and construction of the 3 miles of 6-inch carbon-steel pipeline and the interconnecting station with the NEXUS pipeline. This was completed despite the construction schedule getting pushed from summer into the Ohio wintertime. We worked alongside EDL’s prime contractors at the RNG facility and with the interconnecting gas transmission company to maintain progress.
In the meantime, Burns & McDonnell was also selected for an EPC contract for the switchyard at the landfill facility, which would require more power than the previous landfill gas plant. This scope included design of a new 69-kV, three-breaker ring bus switchyard, a 50-kW backup generator, a control building, and transmission lines into and out of the substation.
The switchyard needed to be completed within about nine months of the contract signing. Given lead times for equipment extending up to 34 weeks, early procurement and construction sequencing were critical to timely performance. Site conditions were another hurdle. The site itself was heavily wooded and needed to be cleared promptly due to environmental constraints, and its proximity to wetlands necessitated a reduced switchyard footprint. The engineering team worked with all stakeholders to design an atypical overhead ring bus configuration to help save space.