Business South November 2021

24 | Aurora Energy: Waipori Line Upgrade REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Line upgrade improves performance, safety T T from page 22 The poles and lines replaced are between the Outram zone substation, on Huntly Road and Maungatua Road, towards the Berwick zone substation. “Waipori still provides Dunedin with electricity, but the lines and poles ferrying the power into Dunedin and ultimately to homes needed a long-awaited upgrade.” The upgrade was on a section of the Wai- pori A, B and C Line, but focused on the B Line only, from Outram to Berwick. The poles and lines in this section had reached their end-of-life cycle and needed to be replaced. “Instead of replacing the poles like for like, Aurora Energy has reduced the number of poles. “On average, for every three wooden or concrete poles removed, they were replaced with one new taller steel pole. “With fewer poles on the feeder, the span of the lines between each of the poles is longer.” Connetics were contracted by Aurora En- ergy to develop the new infrastructure detail design while Delta executed the construction with key subcontractors such as Skevingtons and NETcon. The overall cost of the project was $8.3 million, which included investigations, con- senting, design and construction of the new infrastructure. The major components of the new B Line infrastructure comprise: • New steel poles, auxiliary equipment and foundations • 33, 11 and 6.6 kV conductor • Optical ground wire (earthing and commu - nication) • 14 Air break switches • 4 ring main units • 22 new distribution transformers • Overhead to underground conversion of certain 11 and 6.6kV and 400v assets along the route As well as replacing ageing assets, the pro- ject also addressed public safety risks. The benefit of longer spans between poles improves safety for motorists because the risk of car- versus-pole accidents is reduced. The visual appearance in the area is also improved and having modern infrastructure means less maintenance will be needed. An upgrade of the Outram zone substa- tion is currently underway and Connetics is finalising the detailed design for the next 10 kilometre section of line from Outram to the Mosgiel tie-off. “Waipori still provides Dunedin with electricity, but the lines and poles ferrying the power into Dunedin and ultimately to homes needed a long- awaited upgrade.” Based in the small North Otago town of Palmerston, Skevingtons has a big reputation for its expertise and solution-based approach to every project. The extremely well resourced company employs 70 sta and its expertise includes earthmoving, hydro-excavation, utility infrastructure install andmaintenance and heavy haulage and transport South Island-wide. Managing director Blair Skevington says his company’s team takes pride in producing high quality, well managed work on every project. “Our ability to provide our clients with exceptional customer service is due to the high standards we set ourselves and the relationships we develop with our clients. “We focus on getting the details right by listening to their needs and developing with thema plan that can produce the results we can all be proud of.” At the core of this ethos is seeking to ind out what a business needs for each project and to bring together a teamwith the right skills and experience to produce a great outcome. An example of this client-focused approach was to create a safer solution to install power pole foundations in wet land without the ground caving in. Skevingtons answer was to use its Supervac hydro-excavator which gave it the ability to place a 900mmdiameter casing to a depth of 3.4metres to Skevingtons Contracting eliminate any ground caving in. The company recently had a key role in the upgrade of Aurora Energy’s Waipori line upgrade as a sub-contractor to Delta. The upgrade was on a section of the Waipori A, B and C Line, but focused on the B Line only, fromOutram to Berwick. The poles and lines in this section had reached their end-of-life cycle and needed to be replaced. Skevingtons made 91 substantial foundations for the new steel poles, 1.5 metres in diameter and up to 5.5metres deep. The company invested signi icantly in the planning and design of the project to ensure the management, execution and outcome met the high standard required by all parties, including its own team and management. Another signi icant project for Skevingtons was the construction of one of the largest privately-owned dams in the South Island for The Throne sheep and beef station, Marlborough. The dam required extensive earthmoving to get to bedrock, while there were issues with underground water while constructing the cut o key-way which was dealt with accordingly. Construction took 18months from 2018 to 2020. Skevingtons has an absolute commitment to quality, health, safety and environmental (QHSE) and is a member of SiteWise and IMPAC.