AML Joss MPC WAGF

AltaLink Joss MPC WAGF

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Project Name |  AltaLink Joss MPC WAGF

Owner | AltaLink

Client’s Name | AltaLink

Location | Jenner, AB

Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | September 2021 - December 2022

Market Sector | Utilities

BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)

The project scope includes the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning of the following:

  • Expansion of the existing substation (site development)
  • Extension of the existing 240 kV bus with a partial diameter
  • New A-Frame
  • Add one new 240 kV circuit breaker
  • The project is considered a brownfield

ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)

The scope of work consists of the following:

  • Site expansion
  • Screw pile foundations
  • Placement and assembly of breakers, switches and associated equipment
  • Grounding work, including grounding of offloading equipment
  • Hydrovac Daylighting trenches for control cables
  • Arranging site security to avoid theft, intrusions, vandalism, etc.
  • Procuring temporary site facilities
  • Project consisted of 1 outage to connect the new 240kv bus to the existing 240kv bus. During this outage the line drops from the new transmission line were completed by Iconic

RESULT / SOLUTION

Project completed in 2022.


AltaLink Burns & McDonnell Provost Reliability Upgrades

Provost Reliability Upgrades

Provost Reliability Upgrades

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Project Name |  Provost Reliability Upgrades

Owner | AltaLink

Client’s Name | Burns and McDonnell (BMcD)

Location | Near Provost, AB

Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | June 2020 to April 2021, completed on time and on budget. The project took a total of 10 months to complete.

Market Sector | Utilities

BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)

ICONIC was contracted on a project that involved a 138 KV upgrade of four AltaLink substations (Provost, Hayter, Kilarney Lake and Edgerton). The goal was to provide alternate connection points to enhance system reliability.

ICONIC’s earthworks services were utilized at the Provost substation, where the elevation of surrounding terrain was preventing proper drainage flow.

ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)

  • 138KV upgrade at Provost, Hayter, Kilarney Lake and Edgerton substations
  • Installation of foundation, structural steel, ground grid, control cable and protections
  • Earthwork (Provost site):
    • Setup and maintain ESC
    • Stripping and stockpiling topsoil
    • Supply, import, place, and pack engineered fill and aggregates
    • Supply and installation of geo grid and geo textiles
    • Culverts and site ditching
    • Fencing (supply and installation)

RESULT / SOLUTION

ICONIC executed 16,000 hrs on this project. Our team’s flexibility to reschedule work to match changing outage sequencing was critical to the project’s success. This was possible due our highly committed field crews, as well as our productive relationship with key players on this project. Despite the scheduling challenges, the facilities were all delivered on time, without incident.


AltaLink Conrad Transformer

Conrad Transformer Addition

Conrad Transformer Addition

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Project Name |  Conrad Transformer Addition

Owner | AltaLink

Client’s Name | AltaLink

Location | Near Wrentham, AB

Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | September 2018 to August 2019, completed on time. The project took a total of 8 months to complete, as there was a project lull over the winter months.

Market Sector | Utilities

BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)

The project scope for the Conrad substation includes installing a new transformer and switchgear and control building combo at Conrad 135s substation.

ICONIC was contracted to upgrade the Conrad substation. The objective was to provide enhanced reliability to the Fortis 25 KV distribution system in the greater Wrentham area. The work required the installation of a new transformer, switchgear and control building combo. Due to the age of the station, there was some uncertainty as to the accuracy of the previously recorded drawings. This posed ongoing challenges to the engineering team.

The single biggest project constraint was the limited availability of outages. The site was on a radial feed on the 138 KV system – leaving a small window of opportunity for outages until the new transformer could be installed as a redundant feed. To further complicate this project, all work needed to proceed with extreme care due to the nesting birds in the area. On top of that, there were issues with manufacturer lead times on the 138 KV and 25 KV switches.

The combination of these challenges, along with winter construction, threatened to set the project back.

ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)

Initially, ICONIC’s project scope was limited to the installation, connection and commissioning of all power system upgrades. This was expanded to include civil services on the pad expansion, as ICONIC was able to demonstrate how we could complete the work more efficiently, without cutting corners. The scope included:

  • Expansion of the existing station pad
  • Installation a new 138/25 KV LTC transformer with a 25 KV switchgear
  • The addition of the Fortis AMI was added to ICONIC’s scope
  • Installation of two (2) new 138 KV breakers for the new and existing transformer
  • One (1) new 7-cell switchgear building with two new feeders
  • Salvage existing 25 KV feeder

RESULT / SOLUTION

This was a project that put ICONIC’s problem-solving abilities to the test. AltaLink’s Project Manager was approachable, easy to coordinate with, and extremely open to solutions.

AltaLink’s flexibility to allow us to execute the project outside of winter months led to better cost control. Defined outage planning ensured that key scopes were completed in a timely manner. To work around procurement delays, arrangements were made to purchase units from AltaLink’s emergency stores until the equipment procured by ICONIC arrived. We were also able to propose alternate material solutions to achieve ISD dates.

ICONIC was able to truly add value to this project by offering up the services of our newly formed earthworks team. We were able to stage portions of the project to aid in electrical execution without the change orders that you would see from an external civil entity. This resulted in a better final product – with no escalated costs to the client.

Finally, we closely monitored the surrounding area to identify and avoid active nesting sites.

Despite the challenges on this project, there were no significant incidents or lost time issues on this project. Regular one-on-one meetings with the client allowed us to maintain progress and arrive at the best path forward.


Watson Creek Substation

Watson Creek Substation

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Project Name |  Watson Creek Substation

Owner | Altalink

Client’s Name | Burns and McDonnell

Location | near Jasper, AB

Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | November 2019 to June 2019. The project was completed in 8 months and on time.

Market Sector | Utilities

BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)

This project was initiated to improve system reliability by interconnecting AltaLink and ATCO systems through a 138 KV to 69 KV connection via two transformers.

The single biggest challenge involved the confined workspace, which impacted our ability to stage and execute the deliverables to our usual degree of efficiency. In addition, the station expansion had to be meticulously coordinated to accommodate ATCO and Kinder Morgan outage availability.

Once on-site, we also discovered that the fill beneath the pad (constructed previous to our involvement) used aggregate that was larger than the AltaLink specification.

ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)

There were extensive reporting and documentation requirements on this project. ICONIC’s rigorous project management processes allowed us to meet the client’s request for daily, weekly and monthly submittals. The scope included:

1. Watson Creek 104S expansion

  • Construction of 530L to an interconnection point with ATCO Electric’s 6L530
  • Installation of foundations, structures, protections, and cabling
  • Installation of two (2) 138/69 25 MVA auto transformers
  • Installation of circuit breakers, bus, motorized and manual disconnect switches, and motor operator addition
  • Commissioning and testing

2. Cold Creek 602S & Bickerdike 39S

  • Change relay settings
  • Addition of alternative group settings for a bypass switch close condition between 615L and 847L
  • Recommissioning as necessary

RESULT / SOLUTION

Due to the restricted space, the ICONIC team was required to change our standard processes – working sequentially rather than concurrently. The depth of our field staff allowed us to cross-shift, and quickly return to the baseline schedule. ICONIC’s earthworks operators and laborers pitched in to help us hit ISD.

Subcontractor management and communication was critical for the overall success of the project. ICONIC’s ability to adapt to any circumstances allowed us successfully complete this project on-time, with no significant incidents.