Every once in a while, I receive an email from Trans Mountain with “story ideas” about the pipeline expansion project.
The latest batch of ideas includes Trans Mountain bragging about all the pipe it has now stockpiled – including the pipe destined for the Burnaby section of the project.
“Trans Mountain has received more than 550 kilometres of pipe at stockpile sites in BC and Alberta –that’s over 55 per cent of the total pipe needed to build the Expansion Project,” reads a posting entitled, “Got pipe?”
“The 1000 kilometres of pipe being delivered includes 30-inch, 36-inch and 42-inch diameter pipe. While the majority of the expansion will utilize 36-inch pipe, we will use 42-inch pipe in the Valemount, BC area and 30-inch pipe in the Burnaby Mountain Tunnel.”
According to Trans Mountain, the pipe arrives in three different nominal lengths of 12 metres, 18 metres and 24 metres.
“The length requirements are determined by factors such as road design, accessibility, handling of the pipe in rough terrain or on steep slopes and whether turns can physically be done by the trucks transporting the pipe. For example, in the Lower Mainland of BC, the intersections are not wide enough to accommodate 24-metre lengths of pipe. The sharp turns in the mountainous areas also prevent trucks from carrying the longer pipe.”
Eventually, approximately 318,000 metric tons of new pipe will be required for the project, if it ever gets actually started.
This is obviously alarming news for opponents of the Trans Mountain project. Things are inching closer to getting underway.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinbox44.
