Two MLGW employees witnessed the utility's 30-year cast-iron project
Two Memphis Light, Gas and Water colleagues witnessed history—personal and professional—when the utility abandoned all 330 miles of its natural gas cast-iron system this fall.
Natural Gas Construction Manager Craig Powers, who began as an 18-year-old college intern in the gas department in 1991, and Planner-Coordinator Cheuk Lo, who started in 1988 in water engineering before switching to gas engineering in 1997, designed and planned for the modernization of the natural gas system and transitioned into the construction end of the project.
The $100 million project replaced the last few miles of cast iron with smaller and more efficient steel and polyethylene lines.
“It’s both humbling and makes me want to shake the hand of every construction worker, supervisor, engineer and drafter who contributed toward this achievement,” Powers told American Gas. “I’ve been blessed to have served our workforce as an engineering designer, planner-coordinator, construction supervisor, evening school instructor, assistant manager and currently natural gas construction manager. These experiences and interactions with many co-workers across multiple decades make the completion of this project an affirmation of what sacrifice, teamwork and pride can accomplish.”
At times, it seemed like there was no end in sight to the mammoth undertaking, Lo said. “It is amazing to see this project come to completion after 30 years,” he told American Gas. “I loved all parts of it, from designing to seeing the new gas system going into the ground.”
Both men say they are proud to be part of a team that has greatly improved reliability of the gas system with only minor interruptions to neighborhoods where they worked. “The construction phase connects you to the customer in a more intimate way. There are few instances where a homeowner will welcome unknown people onto their property,” Powers said. “We not only provide natural gas fuel; we provide an enhancement to the quality of their life. We don’t take this duty and opportunity for granted.”
The pair say they would encourage the next generation of young people to consider a career in the natural gas industry, which, Powers said, enjoys “a consistently high demand for professional, highly trained and resourceful ambassadors.”
“The work is diverse, and the natural gas industry is always coming out with new products and improving existing products,” Lo said. “You will always learn something new.”