NL Hydro Says Transmission Line On Schedule Despite Deadly Tower Collapse
October 19, 2017
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro says a new transmission line from Bay d’Espoir to the Avalon Peninsula will be completed as expected in December, despite a tower collapse that resulted in the death of two linemen and an extended work stoppage.
just a handful of the 583 steel towers were left to be erected, and half of the wire stringing had been completed.
A new terminal station at Bay d’Espoir is finished and a similar station on the western Avalon Peninsula near Chapel Arm will also be completed this month, according to the company.
“As construction has progressed, we have remained focused and committed to ensuring that the work is carried out in a safe manner,” NL Hydro wrote in a statement to CBC News.
Project within budget
The new 230-kilovolt, 188-kilometre line will bring power to the Avalon Peninsula from the 600-megawatt hydro generating station in Bay d’Espoir.
The line was estimated to cost just under $300 million, and Hydro says the project “remains within budget.”
Work was stopped on the project after a tower collapsed on June 19 near Come by Chance, killing Jared Moffat, 34, of Prince Albert, Sask. and Tim McLean, 31, of Nipigon, Ont.
An investigation by the contractor, Alberta-based Forbes Bros. Ltd., determined that a “deviation from standard process in the change out of a guy wire” was the reason for the collapse.
A stop-work order halted the erection of new towers for two months as a safety audit and investigation were conducted.
More than 300 towers have been installed since work resumed in August, according to figures provided by NL Hydro.
The installation of the final tower in the coming days will mark another milestone for the province’s electrical grid.
Earlier in October, crews installed the last of more than 3,200 steel transmission towers on the $3.4-billion Labrador-Island Link from Muskrat Falls in Labrador to Soldiers Pond on the Avalon Peninsula.
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