A plan to build an underground natural gas pipeline extending from near Farmington to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville campus will move forward after approval Wednesday from the University of Arkansas System board of trustees.
The cost to build about 4 miles of pipeline will be about $6 million, according to documents prepared in advance of the board meeting. The project will connect the campus to the Enable Gas Transmission interstate pipeline, allowing support for the campus's new power system that was previously approved by trustees in 2013.
Mike Johnson, UA's associate vice chancellor for facilities management, told the board the pipeline will help stabilize transportation costs and pricing of natural gas for the next four decades.
IPS Engineering of Tulsa, along with Alabama-based Energy Services South and two Arkansas companies, Morrison-Shipley and GBMc, were selected as the engineering team for the project.
Trustees at the meeting also approved Allison Architects, which has offices in Little Rock and Fayetteville, to begin work on a $2.45 million renovation to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house, with the work to be paid for by private donations and general obligation bonds.
Metro on 01/22/2015