Gas pipes and workers will line East Summit Street for the next 40 days while Dominion East Ohio Gas replaces its corroding underground system.

Workers began last week with exploratory digging, said Cathy Wilson of Kent’s Division of Engineering. There will be intermittent traffic delays with flaggers on site as needed, and work will stretch between Water Street and Lincoln Street, as well as a portion of South Depeyster Street between Summit Street and Williams Street.

Elements in the gas have corroded the old, steel pipes, said Kent Development Engineer Jennifer Barone. Dominion has used a system called cathodic protection — which surrounds the pipes with “sacrificial metal” to be corroded instead — but in some spots it’s better to entirely replace the steel piping with plastic piping that won’t corrode, Barone said.

New plastic gas lines mean workers have to redo all the connections to each of the buildings and homes on that stretch, too, she said.

Contact Jessica White at [email protected].