Does every house have a street Gas Isolation valve?

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Hi,

I am soon having buildings in who will be digging foundations in my garden close to my Gas supply pipe. I am the ultra cautious person so I have been looking for the gas isolation valve in the street (just in case they hit it). However, I have been unable to find one.

I live on a single track country lane that is a dead end. There are only three houses (inc mine) and I haven't been able to find the isolation vlave for any of them... but I have found a gas valve further down the road. Could it be that this vlave is for all three houses?
 
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Very rare to find an external gas valve, normally the only ECV is provided immediately before the meter.

DO NOT
attempt to shut off the gas valve in the road, you do not know what it isolates, and could potentially create a very dangerous situation for anyone who's gas supply may be affected.

If Builders are digging the foundations, it is their responsibility to check for any buried services prior to excavation. If you are still concerned, ask to see a copy of their insurance policy to cover such events.
 
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If you are still concerned, ask to see a copy of their insurance policy to cover such events.
How much PL do they need? I require £10M just to use a blow torch etc?..A bust 12in main will make a canny boom.
 
If you know where it is why don’t you expose it before the digger turns up?
 
How much PL do they need? I require £10M just to use a blow torch etc?..A bust 12in main will make a canny boom.

Gas is normally more dangerous escaping into confined space, a low pressure escape into atmosphere wont explode, (might get a bit of a flare if it ignites, but provided there's no-one too close, it can be dealt with.) High Pressure gas is a different matter, HP main split in the road outside our depot last year, even though we were about 3/4 of a mile away in the building, we were not allowed out the main gate. Had to leave our cars in the car park and exit via a back gate, with a mile walk across fields to get back to civilisation whereby a taxi was ordered to take us home! Southern Gas had one go a while back, unfortunately their engineers were working on a leak at the time and were badly hurt.
Whit gas leak.jpg

If you're digging you need a decent level of cover, hit a Fibre Optic and you could kiss goodbye to thousands. Whilst it is possible to repair a damaged fibre optic, it can affect it's performance so the Operators can and do insist the whole section is replaced, ££££££. Or in the case of a contractor working on behalf of Anglian Water a few years back, when your mole goes AWOL and smashes through a large water main, promptly followed by a large gas main and floods the towns gas network.... That took weeks to sort out and the contractor didn't survive it.
 
Gas is normally more dangerous escaping into confined space, a low pressure escape into atmosphere wont explode, (might get a bit of a flare if it ignites, but provided there's no-one too close, it can be dealt with.) High Pressure gas is a different matter, HP main split in the road outside our depot last year, even though we were about 3/4 of a mile away in the building, we were not allowed out the main gate. Had to leave our cars in the car park and exit via a back gate, with a mile walk across fields to get back to civilisation whereby a taxi was ordered to take us home! Southern Gas had one go a while back, unfortunately their engineers were working on a leak at the time and were badly hurt.
View attachment 196537

If you're digging you need a decent level of cover, hit a Fibre Optic and you could kiss goodbye to thousands. Whilst it is possible to repair a damaged fibre optic, it can affect it's performance so the Operators can and do insist the whole section is replaced, ££££££. Or in the case of a contractor working on behalf of Anglian Water a few years back, when your mole goes AWOL and smashes through a large water main, promptly followed by a large gas main and floods the towns gas network.... That took weeks to sort out and the contractor didn't survive it.
The overtime was great on that one ,few years back? It was 1997
 
Wel
Yep, Corby. Estimated 60,000 gallons of water went into the gas network before they managed to stop it.
Well over 100,000 gallons my mates were first in attendance and told the contractors they had hit a main.
No we haven't we are moling impossible
Eh look behind you
Oh F##k,,,, the ground had risen by at least a foot
Gas and water mains were run within couple of inches of each other and if mole had hit one it would have diverted away safely but it went right in between them couldnt divert and smashed through the two of them.
People phoning up for water coming out there cookers and fires. Majority of houses were back on and trouble free within 2 weeks
But problems for certain estate continued for 6 months afterwards
 
I remember it happening, kept the local media busy for weeks. Wasn't it also compounded by the fact it happened at the 'top of the town, so gravity did the rest? I think AW went after Crawshaw's for a £1 million compensation as they had to compensate residents directly and seek to recoup their losses. Good job it wasn't the winter or things could have been very dire!

There's been problems on some estates for years. ;) There was talk of the Council doing 'Environmental Improvements', some said the best plan would be to drive a D10 straight through and flatten the lot.
 
Wel

Well over 100,000 gallons my mates were first in attendance and told the contractors they had hit a main.
No we haven't we are moling impossible
Eh look behind you
Oh F##k,,,, the ground had risen by at least a foot
Gas and water mains were run within couple of inches of each other and if mole had hit one it would have diverted away safely but it went right in between them couldnt divert and smashed through the two of them.
People phoning up for water coming out there cookers and fires. Majority of houses were back on and trouble free within 2 weeks
But problems for certain estate continued for 6 months afterwards
I remember when I was at BG, Distribution were moling the main road and I am piping up a factory, can hear all these calls on the radio from fitters wanting a governor team out as they were getting seriously high pressures, then Gov team wanting Grid out as the cant control the system, yep the mole had went right through an old gas main and got stuck and the compressor exhaust was blowing right up the old main, the de-brief on that one was interesting management trying to blame everyone, but the main wasnt on the drawings that they issued the team
 
the main wasnt on the drawings that they issued the team

Doing a sewer circa 1989, needed to put a 600mm storm pipe through an area that had formerly been old houses that had been knocked down a few years previously. Council yard adjacent. Came across a steel service, O'Donnells were up the road laying a new gas main so we got the BG man who was supervising them to assess our find. 'Not on my drawing' he said, 'must be an old feed to the cottages, it'll be dead so pull it'.

We promptly pulled it with the 3C only to find it wasn't dead. I learned about Insertions and Denso Tape that day. :whistle: Although, having worked out that Council depot some 10 years later, I never did work out where that service supplied, the depot didn't have gas.
 
Doing a sewer circa 1989, needed to put a 600mm storm pipe through an area that had formerly been old houses that had been knocked down a few years previously. Council yard adjacent. Came across a steel service, O'Donnells were up the road laying a new gas main so we got the BG man who was supervising them to assess our find. 'Not on my drawing' he said, 'must be an old feed to the cottages, it'll be dead so pull it'.

We promptly pulled it with the 3C only to find it wasn't dead. I learned about Insertions and Denso Tape that day. :whistle: Although, having worked out that Council depot some 10 years later, I never did work out where that service supplied, the depot didn't have gas.
I was on a call out, the team had a cracked cast main, they couldnt get the collar on as it was touching a 4" electric cable, called the Electric company out, lad said no that is dead just cut it away, supervisor says no I want it spiked, we will dig it up for you further up and I want it spiked , they argued like hell but our lad wouldnt give in, they spiked it and it was 133KV what a feckin bang that made, lots of embarresed Electric company blokes that week
 

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