The $US1.3 billion Fayetteville Express Pipeline (FEP) is a joint venture between Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP. The 42 inch steel pipeline will pump natural gas from Conway County, Arkansas, and terminate in Panola County, Mississippi.

While open-trench construction work will be used for the majority of the pipeline, HDD will be used in some sections to minimise disruption to the surrounding environment.

Engineers have opted for HDD as a solution to the initial major construction challenge of crossing the Mississippi River. HDD will also be used to avoid environmental impacts to bald cypress swamps and bottomland hardwood forested wetlands.

It is anticipated that the project will generate over 2,000 jobs during peak construction, with a substantial percentage of the workforce expected to be local.

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The FEP is expected to be completed in October and be fully operational by early 2011, with the capacity to provide enough natural gas to heat over four million homes into the next century.