Conn. Agencies Regs. § 16-11-42 - Gas system construction and maintenance
(a) The gas
company shall maintain its entire plant, and all facilities owned or operated
by it and used in furnishing gas, in such condition as to render adequate and
continuous service. Every gas company shall at all times use every effort to
properly protect the public from danger and shall exercise due care to reduce
the hazards to which employees, customers and others may be subjected by reason
of its equipment and facilities.
(b) Unless some other material is approved by
the commission, cast iron, wrought iron, steel or copper shall be used for
mains and services in low pressure and intermediate pressure systems, and
wrought iron or steel in pressure systems operated in excess of one hundred
pounds per square inch gauge.
(c)
Mechanical or flexible couplings shall be used on cast iron mains and services,
but cement or lead joints may be used when soil conditions assure satisfactory
foundations.
(d) Flexible couplings
or welded joints shall be used on wrought iron or steel mains and services but
screwed couplings may be used for pipe four inches in diameter or
less.
(e) Provisions for expansion,
by expansion joints or otherwise, shall be made where necessary on runs of
exposed pipe.
(f) As far as
practicable, all pipe shall be laid below average frost line but for cast iron
pipe the top of the bell shall be a minimum of thirty inches below the ground
surface.
(g) Whenever normal
excavation discloses unsatisfactory foundation, one or more of the following
corrective measures shall be adopted:
(1)
Excavate to good bearing soil and backfill to pipe grade with suitable material
well tamped to provide adequate support;
(2) support with a concrete slab;
(3) support with piling;
(4) use steel or wrought iron pipe with
flexible couplings and, in unusually wet or corrosive soil, treat the steel
pipe with a protective coating.
(h) Pipe on a highway bridge shall be so
located and protected as to reduce hazard to a minimum.
(i) All gas mains shall be laid clear of all
other underground structures and shall not be laid in the same trench with
other underground utilities in order to minimize the possibility of gas leakage
by reason of any movement of such structures or of the mains. Gas services may
be laid in the same trench with other underground utilities, with the exception
of sewer pipes, provided such service pipes are laid at least twelve inches in
a horizontal plane from other underground facilities. At crossings of mains and
services with other underground structures clearances shall be not less than
twelve inches. To secure compliance with the requirements of these regulations
by others doing underground construction work, the gas companies should arrange
with the other agencies having highway subsurface rights for adequate
notification and inspection procedure.
(j) Pipe laid shall be tested and made tight
before being placed in service.
(k)
The ditch underneath, around and over the pipe shall be backfilled with good
material thoroughly tamped to secure a firm support. To disclose any settlement
of the backfill which may need correcting, newly filled ditches shall be
reinspected at intervals for sufficient period of time subsequent to completion
of backfilling operations.
(l)
Service connections may be tapped into cast iron mains if the diameter of the
hole does not exceed one-quarter of the diameter of the main, otherwise, and in
mains other than cast iron, a saddle, sleeve or welded connection may be used
or a tee cut into the line.
(m) The
service connection at the main or the run of service pipe shall allow for a
reasonable amount of flexibility to prevent fracture or leaks at the connection
with the main.
(n) At entrances to
foundation walls or to regulator or valve pit walls, the pipe shall be
protected against corrosion.
(o)
Regulator pits and valve pits shall be constructed to safely sustain any
reasonable load imposed thereon, and with sufficient foundation depth and
stability to minimize the possibility of breaks in the pipe lines at the wall
entrances.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.