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ESB NETWORKS LTD
October/November 2012 www.esb.ie/em
Overhead Quality Forum ensures higher standard
IT IS DIFFICULT to overstate the importance of the quality of materials, design and work methods when constructing and maintaining overhead network assets. Ensuring the consistent availability of high quality material, good design and good construction standards significantly, and most importantly, enhances Staff and Public Safety by minimising network incidents, particularly line drops. Additional benefits include improved supply continuity and thus enhanced customer satisfaction, combined with reduced supply outage penalties. Maximum asset longevity and value for money are also achieved, thereby reducing expenditure and enhancing the excellent business reputation and brand name of ESB Networks.
The Overhead Quality Forum has been successfully in operation for over ten years. It provides a useful forum for staff to raise qualityrelated issues that could adversely affect the reliability and quality of the electricity service that ESB Networks provides to electricity users.
The objective of the quality group is to ensure the quality of materials purchased for installation on the overhead network and the standard to which the network is constructed meets the requirements of a modern distribution network operator.
The forum is made up of staff directly involved in using, specifying, evaluating and procuring overhead network material. End-user views on material quality issues are actively encouraged: all comments are fully investigated and timely feedback is provided.
Incidents of poor quality overhead networks material encountered by staff can now be reported directly online to the forum by using the Asset Management Quality Defect Reporting Sharepoint. This Sharepoint is found by clicking on the ‘Applications’ tab on the ESB Networks Intranet Home page. All Customer Service and Construction Supervisors have access to this Sharepoint to log defects. Access to view reported quality issues is available to all staff members.
All Technical Notifications or Job Aids that are prepared and issued by members of the Quality Forum as part of the resolution of a quality issue are also available to view on this Sharepoint.
The forum meets quarterly and issues a Quality Poster twice a year. A hard copy of the poster is issued to all depots for display on notice boards. A soft copy is also available upon request. The latest addition of this poster was issued in September. For further information please contact Kevin McDermott, Asset Management, at 24332.
ESBEI MID YEAR SAFETY AWARD
Page 18
Oil-Filled Cable Replacement Project underway
HVD&C CORK has commenced the up-rating of the existing 110kV cable circuits between Marina 110kV station on Centre Park Road and Trabeg 110kV station on South Douglas Road in Cork city. This necessitates the replacement of the existing direct buried 110kV oil filled cables - a 2602mm aluminium cable installed in 1961 and a 1852mm copper cable installed in 1973, each rated at 79MVA and now experiencing increased levels of overloading. The new 1,0002mm copper XLPE (dry cables) each rated at 200MVA, in conjunction with a new 110kV GIS station being installed in Marina, will meet the increased demand on these circuits and reinforce the electrical infrastructure in the Cork area.
The route initially proposed passed through a number of housing estates so as to avoid heavily trafficked roads. This proposal was presented to Cork City Council and the Gardaí in February 2012, however, Cork City Council suggested using the N27, South City Link Road, which is shorter and straighter. This route had not been considered because it is an NRA road and a major arterial route into and out of Cork city.
Mark Byrne and Darren Reilly of ESBI Cable section and Metin Amet ESBI Civils redesigned the cable route along Centre Park Road, Monahan Road, Albert Road, Albert Street and South City Link Road and route agreement was obtained in June.
Due to the impact of the ducting installation on traffic flow a precondition imposed by Gardaí was that all work on South City Link Road be undertaken between July 23rd and August 27th. Work included excavating two trenches, each 1.4 kilometres long, construction of joint pit and the full carriageway reinstatement. This required closure of the outbound carriageway and temporary installation of a contra-flow system on the inbound carriageway. To facilitate the contra-flow system, 300 metres of central median had to be removed and temporary road surfaces installed at crossing points to maintain traffic flow in advance of trenching.
“Duct installation will continue until December 2012
Work commenced as scheduled on Monday July 23rd and, despite encountering the wettest August in decades, Supervisor Tom Power Clerk of Works Barry Holland and all the team ensured that work on this section was completed by Saturday August 25th and the road was re-opened as scheduled.
Duct installation will continue until December 2012. Circuit 1 will be installed from February to April 2013 and will be energised in April. Circuit 2, which uses the joint pit on the N27, cannot be installed until August 2013 as a similar traffic constraint applies. Circuit 2 will be energised in September 2013.
The oil-filled cables will then be retired from service.
