ENGINEERS managed to lay a major gas pipe under the four-lane A19 on Teesside without causing a single delay.
Contractors working for Transco used a new technique that meant the 300mm-diameter pipe was pulled into place without disruption.
The two-day operation involved boring a 72metre tunnel seven metres below the road surface, near Billingham.
The work is the latest phase of a £13m scheme to build a pipeline from Cowpen Bewley, near Billingham, to Warden Law, near Houghton-le-Spring. The pipe will improve gas supply to consumers across Wearside.
The A19 was the largest of 27 road crossings. Also crossed were the A1185 and the A689.
Chris Gorman, Transo's head of network, said 100 people worked on the project.
He said: "Horizontal drilling mean that we can cause much less disruption than traditional open-trench methods."
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