Designing a bay-crossing pipeline
A 12-inch steel pipeline was installed 60 feet under Barnegat Bay, creating a storm-resilient link to the barrier islands.
NJNG boosts system resiliency with a new pipeline beneath Barnegat Bay
Superstorm Sandy caused severe damage along New Jersey’s coast, revealing risks to natural gas infrastructure serving more than 500,000 customers. NJNG launched the $102.5M New Jersey Reinvestment in System Enhancements (NJ RISE) program to add durability, redundancy, and stability to the distribution network.
Overcoming complex site limits
Teams navigated sensitive environments and identified suitable staging areas for 3K feet of continuous pipe.
Precise horizontal directional drilling (HDD) engineering
Route analysis, geotechnical surveys, and detailed HDD design ensured operations were completed safely and efficiently.
Protecting workers and communities
Winter construction required tight coordination and planning, resulting in zero safety incidents and uninterrupted service.
With the pipeline now in place, NJNG’s network is more resilient to extreme weather and better equipped to maintain continuous service. The project avoided impacts to sensitive areas, met tight seasonal restrictions, and delivered a secure bay-crossing link. As project manager David Tanzi said, the 60-foot-deep pipeline “is very protected and should withstand storm events for many years to come.”