Power lines going underground
Commuters travelling along Napier’s Kennedy Road will notice a significant visual improvement in a few months, with Unison starting the last stage of its long-running OHUG (conversion of overhead assets to underground) project.
Following Stages One and Two — completed in 2015 and 2017 respectively — where assets were put underground between Riverbend Road and the NapierHastings Expressway, Unison will begin Stage Three of the conversion at the end of this month.
With a budget of $500,000, Stage Three will extend down to Taradale Road andwill be completed by the end of March 2019. The Kennedy Road project was prioritised based on asset age, condition and criticality of the existing infrastructure.
“The project was marked a priority and actioned on the back of pole testing, which confirmed many poles along Kennedy Road were nearing the end of their economic life,” says Unison general manager networks and operations, Jaun Park.
“Around 10,000 vehicles travel down this section of road each day, so ‘undergrounding’ our assets not only reduces the visual impact, it considerably increases public safety all while improving the reliability of supply to a large number of our Napier customers.”
Project manager Rodney Booth is pleased with the result of the first two stages.
“We had a number of compliments on the work we’ve done in Stages One and Two.”