Pipeline goes under roads, not through

Workers from Laney Directional Drilling of Humble, Texas, drill under the Lincolnton Road this week as work goes on to run the Elba Express natural gas pipeline through Wilkes County. County leaders insisted that no roads be cut through during the pipeline construction, so a technique known as “jack and bore” is being used to create a small tunnel under the road through which the pipe can be pushed. Traffic will be able to flow on the county roads affected, except for short times when flaggers hold up traffic for heavy equipment to move. Tunneling has already been completed on Big Cedar Road, Highway 80, and the Thomson Road.