This was a very important project for Poles and Underground. It provided an opportunity to diversify into the Western Australian market and we were able to demonstrate to Western Power, a new client, that P&U had the capabilities to provide high quality work, and deliver within budget in an extremely tight timeframe.
Poles and Underground installed a 25km overhead 33kV line from Western Power’s Dalwallinu feeder near the Mt Gibson Mine to a substation at Top Iron Pty Ltd’s new Mummaloo magnetite processing facility in the vicinity of Payne’s Find in the Murchison region, some 280 km north east of Perth and 70 km northeast of Dalwallinu. The first 22.5km of the extension was on an easement cleared through bushland 8km to 15km east of the Great Northern Highway and the remaining 2.5km line was on the Top Iron mining site.
The line installation included a 33kV load break switch, five 33kV pole-top switches and 33kV metering equipment. P&U also installed a 250A ground mounted voltage regulator compound, including an auto recloser and a 100A pole-mounted voltage regulator.
The work was completed within the short 9 week time frame required by the client by having duplicate pole installation, pole dressing and line stringing crews working from each of the line at the same time.
P&U mobilised to a remote site in Western Australia from NSW, constructed 25km of new 33kv overhead distribution line and constructed the ground and pole top mounted voltage regulators within 9 weeks of signing the contract. P&U worked effectively alongside both the electrical authority and the mine operators to deliver a hugely successful project.