3 minute read
Meeting Substation & Transmission Line Schedule
Teamwork Helps Meet Substation & Transmission Line Schedule
POWER & ENERGY MARKET
n By Cam Rand
In the spring of 2020, Cianbro concluded the installation of County Road Substation in Oakland, Maine, along with seven miles of new direct embedded steel monopole 115 kV transmission line which tied into the new substation.
Cianbro’s Power & Energy team began this project in late summer of 2019 when we broke ground at the substation pad with our subcontract partner, Ranger Contracting Inc. With the delayed award of the project, our team acknowledged the urgency to get below-grade construction of the 115/34.5/12.47kV substation complete before winter set in. As work progressed in the yard, below grade with oversight from Project Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Moody and Design Specialist Ryan Lockhart, the team in the control house, led by Patti Brann, was executing a well-orchestrated plan to complete the fit-out of the control house. As foundations were placed and grades established, Jordan Lyford and his team continued diligently in the field with yard conduit and ground grid installations.
The T-line scope of work started with the installation of seventy-four 48-inch and 60-inch culverts for the direct embedded poles. By early fall, the first steel pole for the new line, Section 241, was spotted and installed by Scott Bumps, DJ Robinson, and team. All resources and team members’ focus was then directed toward completing the Interstate 95 crossing. With this being outage-driven work, all of our Northern New England Transmission & Distribution resources came together and showed superior team work in executing this large scope of work within a tight schedule. By the turn of the year the team, led by Ryan Perkins and Matt Sullivan, were ready to install the new 126,000 feet of 1192 aluminum conductor steel reinforced, and 40,000 feet of optical ground wire.
Once above-grade construction began at the County Road Substation and structural steel arrived, it was apparent that many pieces of the steel would require modifications to meet or correct deficiencies in design. Cianbro’s highly experienced steel erection crew, led by Bill Dusty, ensured that issues were addressed immediately and provided possible solutions to the client to ensure critical path activities stayed on schedule. Progression of the above grade electrical and mechanical construction continued through the winter with Mike Dube leading the fitting and welding of the tubular bus and Matt Raven coordinating the pulling of yard protection and control cables from the field. As circuits became energized for testing and commissioning activities, Patti and the team maintained detailed and clear coordination with testing and commissioning parties to ensure she was keeping her team safe. Due to various design flaws with the 34.5kV disconnect switches, Brent Haskell and his mechanical crew focused heavily on the troubleshooting, adjustment, and replacement of various parts in highly congested aerial locations. Through a consistent six day workweek, the team was able to finally reach the targeted energization date of the substation on April 21 2020, while also working through the onset of COVID-19.
Once Section 241 became energized another series of outages on three 34.5kv circuits that ran into the old Rice Rips Substation needed to be cut over to the County Road Substation. The distribution team, led by Scott Rand and Corey Blagdon, assisted with the execution of the outages. Finally 115kV line section 281 needed to be rerated, this required the installation of 44 energized sets, 22 transfers, and 160 structures to be renumbered, which required climbing each one individually. Special thanks to Shane Ennis and Bruce Chesley for supporting the team with education and safety needs during all the work and different outages.
The project spanned approximately eight months from mobilization to energization. It took the commitment of the team and has reaffirmed Cianbro’s capabilities as a full-service provider across the transmission, distribution, and substation submarkets. Thank you to all involved with the project. ✔ 37,814 Project Safe Hours
