Careful planning and effective community consultation minimised disruptions to the construction program, and mitigated potential problems for the community and the client.
Poles & Underground was contracted by Endeavour Energy to construct 8km of 33kV and 11kV feeder lines (485 and 487) from the Mt Druitt substation in Western Sydney to a new zone substation in Claremont Meadows to service a new housing development and an 8km feeder (457) from Claremont Meadows on to the Kingswood zone substation.
The work included erection of new timber poles and 13 concrete poles in critical locations, and the removal and replacement of some timber poles. It also involved installing underground cables in areas such as the Mt Druitt substation, crossing the Great Western Highway and through the Claremont Meadows pole-free zone.
A critical part of the project was communicating effectively with the 5,000 households in the area, local businesses and major institutions such as campuses of the University of Western Sydney and the Western Sydney Institute of TAFE regarding interruptions of power supply and road closures.
To minimise the impacts of the construction work on power supply Poles and Underground arranged for the installation and operation of temporary generators to maintain power when necessary.
The work included going through several sensitive locations such as school and university grounds. Considerable forethought was required to plan and manage the work in these critical environments to ensure minimal disruptions.