River Utility Crossing

About

GTA provided wetland permitting and third party construction observation services for this approximately one-mile natural gas pipeline project, which was a result of a bridge replacement and relocation project. To successfully obtain the required Federal and State wetland permits for horizontal directional drill (HDD) installation of a 6-inch natural gas pipeline beneath approximately 731 feet of tidal waters and 2,385 feet of tidal wetlands of the Choptank River, GTA coordinated with the Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW), United States Army Corps of Engineers, National Marine Fisheries Services, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Maryland Historic Trust.

As a condition of the Tidal Wetlands License issued by the BPW, GTA served as a third party contractor to perform third party observation services, during HDD operations. Key among these services was the observation of the loss of drilling fluid return (frac-out) during HDD operations and the pull-back of the 6-inch steel pipe. As part of this service, GTA referenced the Horizontal Directional Drilling Inadvertent Surface Release Contingency Plan. Throughout the construction of the project, GTA maintained an open line of communication with the reviewing agencies, client, and contractor. The project concluded with no inadvertent releases.