Crews are pulling a section of pipe to be sent away for testing.
LEWISTON – Northern Utilities will remove a section of natural gas pipe that could be to blame for last week’s fiery explosion on Main Street.
The pipe will be sent to an independent testing lab to determine why it failed, according to fire Chief Michel Lajoie.
Lajoie said crews began building a bypass Monday around an apparent break in the pipe under Main Street, some 15 feet from the site of the explosion at the former Hotel Holly.
The work should keep the right lane of northbound Main Street closed throughout much of this week.
Lajoie said officials from the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Maine Public Utilities Commission were on hand Monday morning as crews began their work.
“They wanted to show us what they were doing and make sure everything was on the up-and-up – which it was,” Lajoie said.
He said the bypass job would be involved and time-consuming. “Basically, they were prepping the pipe and bypassing the place where they found the break.”
He expected the work to take most of the day. On Tuesday, workers were scheduled to pull the section of pipe from the ground.
Fire investigators believe the Jan. 12 explosion was caused by natural gas, which may have leaked from an abandoned gas line and seeped into the basement of the old Hotel Holly. Last week’s arctic temperatures could have caused the leak, fire investigators said.
Officials at Northern Utilities declined to comment on the investigation.
The explosion prompted the city to ask for the location, date of installation and type of material of similar Northern Utilities lines throughout Lewiston.
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