The scope of this project is to offer a new and improved piece of equipment that improves and extends the design and functionality of the Tornado air powered vacuum device for the removal of small quantities of water from pits and valve chambers, for purging redundant gas pipes, and the removal of residual gas trapped in building voids to aid the re occupation of the occupants.

The outcomes of these improvements are expected to include:

• Reduced interruption times, thus improving the productivity and efficiency across our networks

• In the event of customers being evacuated, greatly improved reoccupation time.

The project has been delayed due to the number of trials conducted. SGNs Engineering Policy team has approved the use of the Tornado Max Adaptor for use under trial conditions on our network. Due to the complexities of the equipment and the specific, unique operating scenarios the project team propose extending the field trial duration. It is important that the project team and Engineering Policy deliver a representative sample of trials in order for the results to be clearly evaluated. Yet, the equipment can only be tested in the event of a gas emergency, on an ad hoc basis, which adds a level of complexity along with additional safety factors to consider. For these reasons, the end date of the overall project will now be extended by a further 10 months, concluding in January 2016. This will allow the project team and Engineering Policy enough time to conclude their field trials and assess the results ahead of the project being completed and the learning shared with other network licensees.

The project title, problem, objectives, success criteria and cost arrangements will remain unchanged, and the change is beneficial as it will allow the project to complete as planned and deliver learning which will benefit all Gas Distribution Networks in their emergency operations across GB.

Benefits

In order to determine whether this project has been successful or not it will be reviewed at key milestones set throughout the project listed above, this will ensure value for money is received by the customer, with the avoidance of unnecessary expenditure.

Key outcomes of the project will be:

• The development of a piece of equipment which utilises the existing Tornado tooling

• Field trial data clarifying the effectiveness of the equipment to remove build up of gas from confined spaces in property structures and small quantities of water and grit from valve chambers

• An improved reoccupation time for evacuated residents as a result of gas in properties

• Production of a technical report detailing the project outcomes.