$11m line laying project revealed

Construction of an $11 million underground power line covering nearly 10 kilometres of New Plymouth is due to start next month.

The project involves 9.2km of trenching, the laying of ducting and the installation of cables to connect the substations at Moturoa and upper Carrington St.

Powerco general manager of service delivery and systems operations, Glenn Sharratt, said the work was necessary as national grid operator Transpower would decommission its supply point at Port Taranaki by early 2020. ‘‘The supply point became largely redundant with the closure of the power station,’’ he said.

‘‘However, it serves our substation at Moturoa, which in turn powers several big industries, commercial customers and hundreds of residences in the area.

‘‘We now need to connect Moturoa to Carrington St which is no small task.’’ The work, which includes upgrading the two substations, is due to start in October and will be done progressively during 18 months, starting at Carrington St substation.

Sharratt said they were working closely with the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) to minimise disruption to residents and businesses as the work progressed.

‘‘There may be some road closures at times to ensure the safety of the public, depending on the site and traffic conditions,’’ he said. ‘‘Residents will be kept informed with signs on the street before work begins in areas.’’

NPDC manager transportation, Carl Whittleston, said it had been working with Powerco for months to ensure it kept the public informed and to minimise any potential impacts.

That included things such as scheduling work outside schools during the school holidays when there were fewer children around.

Sharratt said because of the size and number of cables being installed, the work would involve open trenching and laying 33 kilovolt cables to join the Transpower network to the Powerco substation. New Plymouth firm Drillco has the won the contract for the trenching and Bell Block-based Nexans would supply the cabling, while other work is still to be tendered

Sharratt said Drillco would split the project work between two teams, with one starting from Carrington St and working along Huatoki St, Brois St, Waimea St and Tukapa St to the halfway point at Borrell Ave.

They would also trench an alternative route along Carrington St, Parsons St, Glenpark Ave, Frankley Rd, Clawton St and Tukapa St to Borrell Ave, which provides a back-up option to ensure security of supply. The second team would trench along the rest of Borrell Ave, Seaview Rd, Devon St, Bayly Rd and Breakwater Rd to the Moturoa substation.