For local business owners in Outlook, they may be looking at some steady prosperity as Enbridge looks to get underway on their Line 3 Pipeline Replacement Project (L3RP) later this summer.
At an open house event held at the Outlook Heritage Centre on Tuesday, June 20, reps with Enbridge met with the public and business people in the community to discuss their tentative plans for the area, which includes making Outlook a central hub for worker activity on the replacement project, with the Alberta community of Provost being the other one.
Enbridge has held several of these open house events recently this week in both Saskatchewan and Alberta to prepare for the project.
On November 29, the Canadian federal government announced the approval of Enbridge Pipelines L3RP.
The entire project involves replacing all of the remaining segments of the Line 3 pipeline between Hardisty, Alberta and Superior, Wisconsin. The $7.5 billion L3RP is the largest undertaking in Enbridge history.
The total length of pipeline replacement is 1,660 km and they will be replacing the current 34-inch-diameter pipe 36-inch-diameter pipe. The project will phased over the next two years and will start with three areas, or 'spreads'.
As many as 600 workers are expected to arrive in Outlook and the surrounding area for the project.
Allen Sawatzky, a senior construction manager for Enbridge, says the project will get underway in August.
“It’s replacing an aging pipeline of Enbridge’s, and we’re going to be in Outlook for summer construction starting on August 1,” he said, though that date is reportedly still tentative at this time. “We have the contractor selected, which is Somerville, and they’ll be installing pipe this fall and winter from the east side of Rosetown to the west side of Regina.”
Sawatzky says the dated line was installed in approximately 1968, and that it`s simply better to go with a new one rather than trying to rehab and fix up an aging line.
“It’s getting dated, and it’s sort of like a car where at some point, it’s better to get a new one than keep fixing the old one; that’s an easy analogy of the project,” he said.
With pipeline work routinely coming in phases, this specific project has an approximate end date of two years in the future.
“The work on the total project will end in 2019,” said Allen. “In this area, it’ll be this summer, this winter, and then next summer we’ll be back to finish the reclamation and topsoil replacement. This year is the pipe install, and next year is sort of the clean-up; returning it to a good or better condition than when we came.”
With the hundreds of workers expected in the area, Sawatzky says the work they`ll be doing has the probability of being quite speedy.
“On the contractor side, there is approximately 600, give or take, and on the inspection side, there’s close to 80, so you’re looking at around 700 people in total,” he said. “Pipeline construction moves very quickly, as they average about 2.5 km a day for productivity. If you start in Rosetown and go 2.5 km a day, it won’t take them long to get to Outlook and then progress to the east.”
Allen was happy to see local business representatives and citizens come to the open house in Outlook to show their support for Enbridge being in the community, as it is building a certain level of excitement.
“I think this is what we expected; it’s been open arms with an ‘open for business’ mindset,” he said. “The local community has some experience from the Clipper days. There are great services in a town of this size, and lots here to support a pipeline company. It’s been nothing but good responses from the locals with us coming to town, and Enbridge is very proud to be working out of Outlook, as is our contractor Somerville.”
The exact timing of Enbridge`s construction is still subject to a final decision, though that decision is expected to be made shortly.
