Damaged gas pipeline under Macquarie River near Bathurst now permanently repaired

Natural gas and electricity asset company APA Group announced on Monday morning that it had "successfully completed" the permanent repair of the pipeline and reinstated the Young-Lithgow Pipeline service.

Jets of gas of at least one-metre high were reported to be visible when the pipeline, running under the Macquarie, was damaged during flooding in early November.

It led to gas being cut off to Bathurst, Lithgow, Wallerawang and Oberon.

Gas supplies were reinstated to Bathurst on November 9 about a week later.

"While the permanent pipeline is now complete, the temporary pipeline solution which was completed on Sunday 20 November had already allowed APA and [gas supply company] Jemena to restore gas supply to all customers in the Wallerawang, Lithgow and Oberon areas," the APA Group statement on Monday morning said.

READ ALSO: How our gas was reconnected in record time

The statement said APA Group CEO and managing director Adam Watson wanted to acknowledge everyone involved in the response and their focus on restoring gas to these communities as quickly and safely as possible, firstly via the LNG and temporary pipeline solutions and, now, the reinstatement of the permanent pipeline.

"So many people, including the teams at APA and Jemena, the Local Emergency Management Committee, the local councils and community organisations have worked tirelessly to reach this milestone," Mr Watson said.

"The APA and Jemena teams on the ground have received enormous support from residents and businesses, and I'd like to once again thank the community for their support.

"I'd also like to again acknowledge the support from the emergency services, SES, NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole and the Federal Member for Calare Andrew Gee, and our contractors, who pulled out all stops to support the community and all three solutions.

"The effort to restore gas was incredible. Gas to vulnerable services and some customers was brought back online via the trucked LNG solution within 12 days, full supply was delivered within 18 days through the temporary pipeline solution, despite further impacts from flooding in the area, and the permanent solution was completed in under seven weeks.

"I want to thank all those involved with more than 200 APA employees and contractors brought in to work on the three solutions from across Australia. Without them we wouldn't have been able to achieve this."

During construction of both the temporary LNG solution and temporary and permanent pipelines, APA and Jemena have had the support of contractors from across Australia, including local contractors and businesses as far as Perth and Tasmania, according to the statement.

APA said its initial assessment suggests that the damage to the Young-Lithgow Pipeline in November was caused by flooding.

The Western Advocate asked APA back in November about maintenance on its gas pipelines.

"APA maintains its pipelines to the highest standards (AS2885) which is one of the most advanced standards for high-pressure pipelines in the world," an APA spokesman said at the time.

"We undertake rigorous inspections across our network and have real-time monitoring in place. We do daily road patrols in urban areas and regular aerial patrols, using high resolution cameras, covering over 20,000km per month.

"We also have a thorough understanding of the water crossings on our network.

"We most recently inspected the Young Lithgow Pipeline between April and May this year after the landholder told us he believed the pipe had become exposed.

"The inspection showed water flow had eroded some of the cover of the pipe.

"The inspection, plus a review of the most recent technical data taken from the pipeline, confirmed there were no integrity issues with the pipeline.

"We re-covered the pipe to the Australian standard and were satisfied with the risk assessment we conducted.

"The recent flooding eroded the banks of the riverbed where the section of pipeline runs underneath, exposing the pipe."

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