At Ameren Illinois, natural gas and electric teamed up for an unusual meter install
In a unique project, Ameren Illinois natural gas journeymenteamed up with the electric operations team to hang a natural gas meter set on a power pole in an area along the Mississippi River that floods.
Why? The utility needs to make sure it can access the gas meter at all times.
After the flood of 1993, as Ameren Illinois engineers considered ways to safeguard the utility’s natural gas and electric infrastructure near the river, one business customer decided the solution was to rise above the water and install its natural gas meter high onto a utility pole.
Now, 27 years later, Ameren Illinois gas and electric co-workers were together again at the business site to install a new technologically advanced gas meter. Natural gas co-workers worked alongside linemen inside bucket trucks to safely construct and install the meter.
“Getting the opportunity to be a part of this project was a privilege in itself,” Michael Fuller, supervising engineer, Ameren Illinois, told American Gas. “Electric operations, gas operations and engineering had to come together as a team to ensure that, from a constructability standpoint, this project could be done safely.”
To ensure the infrastructure was sound, the decision was made to replace the utility pole prior to installing the new meter set, he said.
The natural gas meter set is mounted on the utility pole at a height above the flood level of 1993, thus requiring a bucket truck to access it. Steel lines run up to the inlet of the meter set and are connected to the inlet using industry-approved, braided, flexible hoses. These hoses allow for movement of the meter and related facilities during inclement weather.
The design allows the utility to either bypass the meter or connect temporary compressed natural gas on the outlet side of the meter, which ensures safe, reliable natural gas service even when maintenance work must be performed on the meter set, Fuller said.
“This project is a great example that when diverse and inclusive environments exist within an organization, the customers and the communities being served are positively impacted,” Michael Rebbe, career engineer, Ameren Illinois, told American Gas.