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Northern Gas Networks announces £1.18m investment to dismantle North East gas tanks

Northern Gas Networks, the North of England’s gas distributer, is investing £1.18m in two North East projects to safely dismantle and remove its gas holder tanks.

The projects based at Howdon in Newcastle upon Tyne, and Ayres Quay in Sunderland, costing £500k and £680k respectively, are to be carried out in conjunction with specialist partner, G O’Brien Group.

The Newcastle project, which began on Monday 21 March 2016, will take 32 weeks to complete whilst the Sunderland project, which began on Monday 11 April 2016, will take 23 weeks to complete.

For around 100 years gas holders were a vital part of the local gas supply system, responsible for supplying gas to thousands of people across the country.

In more recent years, the gas holders have been used to bolster the network’s gas supplies during colder weather, and at peak times in the early evenings.

However, advances in technology and the enhanced capability of the modern-day gas network, mean that gas holders are no longer in use.

Mark Johnson, from NGN’s Major Projects team, said: “The decision has been made to dismantle the gas holder at Ayres Quay and Howdon as they are no longer in use and is costly to maintain. We’ll be working with a specialist contractor to carry out the work in a safe and environmentally responsible way.

“We know how important these structures can be to communities and we’ll be working closely with local residents and stakeholders to give them the opportunity to commemorate the structure as it disappears from the skyline, through hosting art workshops with our local community artist.”

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