Challenges, Opportunities and Solutions in Structural Engineering and Construction Ghafoori (ed.

.) 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-0-415-56809-8

Challenges of a substation and infrastructure upgrade in an urban downtown setting

M.L. Cochrane
Stantec Consulting, Edmonton, AB, Canada

C.D. Wagner
EPCOR, Edmonton, AB, Canada

ABSTRACT: EPCOR, along with the design consultant, Stantec Consulting, faced a number of challenges when taking on a major infrastructure upgrade project for the supply of power to the downtown area of the City of Edmonton. During the design phase, these challenges included the high price of land, severe space constraints, designing around existing underground infrastructure, and working with future city infrastructure upgrade plans. Construction presented more barriers including field design changes due to existing conditions, managing numerous scheduling restrictions, managing multiple contractors in a very small working area, public consultation, safety for work occurring in a highly populated area, and sequencing of work to minimize interruption to existing service while relocating and replacing existing equipment. Although the list of challenges was long, the project team was able to deliver a successful project by planning for anticipated challenges and being flexible enough to adapt the execution plan as new obstacles arose. 1 INTRODUCTION presented unique challenges to this infrastructure upgrade in a downtown setting: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Space constraints Public consultation Project planning and staffing of project team City planning Underground unknowns Sequencing of work Field changes and design change support

The project included modifications to an existing substation and the expansion of a second, consisting of a 240 kV/72 kV 450 MVA transformer, new control building, and relocation of two 72 kV High Pressure Fluid-Filled (HPFF) underground transmission cables installed in a restricted footprint. A 10.5 km, 480 MVA, 240 kV underground Cross-Linked PolyEthylene (XLPE) transmission cable system was also constructed between the two stations. The cables are installed in a concrete encased ductbank from north Edmonton to downtown. This project was requested by the Alberta Electrical System Operator (AESO) and assigned to EPCOR to build and modify the existing facilities as required. There are three main driving factors behind this project: Improve the power supply to the downtown core and safeguard the power grid Allow a downtown generating station to be decommissioned Expand the available power supplied due to load growth in the downtown core. Many of the challenges faced on this project spanned both design and construction phases, with initial management of issues during the design stage and further management and adaptation during the construction stage. Following are the key areas that

SPACE CONSTRAINTS

Many alternative locations were considered by the AESO when selecting the site of the substation to be expanded. The downtown substation selected for expansion is located on three lots in an older area that has been neglected, but is currently undergoing a revitalization and a construction boom with numerous high rise condominium developments in the surrounding area. Land prices jumped considerably in the year prior to project commencement. Originally two empty city lots were purchased across the street from the existing substation. Public consultation and complex engineering requirements led to the purchase of two additional lots adjacent to the existing substation. Buildings located on these lots were demolished prior to the start of construction. The two extra lots were used for construction laydown and storage, site trailers, and wash cars. They

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were then sold at project completion. An additional lot was purchased adjacent to the two new construction lots part way through construction for access and laydown, then converted to a permanent parking lot for employee access to the substation, and is also available for future expansion. During design, special consideration was required to ensure maintenance of minimum electrical clearances, while minimizing the overall footprint of the station to fit into the two compact lots. Alternatives to the final design such as a gas insulated indoor station were considered, but discarded due to cost. A solid dielectric bus was used instead of traditional underground cable bus to accommodate the small space and existing underground duct banks. A 5 m tall brick wall around the substation enabled equipment to be placed closer to the perimeter and also acted as a sound and safety barrier. The final equipment layout design considered future operations and maintenance activities to maximize access. 3 PUBLIC CONSULTATION

EPCORs public consultation team took a proactive approach to dealing with public inquiries. A preplanning session helped determine some questions from the public. Stakeholder meetings were conducted in person with a project team member and the major stakeholders, as identified in the pre-planning session. Key stakeholders included area hospitals, schools, businesses, and community leagues. Two open houses were held for the public to address concerns and questions. In addition, the public consultation group set up mailings, handouts, regular project updates, signs along the route, inquiry hotline, and a web site. Transparent planning facilitated smooth consultation without objections from the public. 4 PROJECT PLANNING AND STAFFING OF PROJECT TEAM

would have been an asset throughout the project to review documents and respond to questions from the consultants and contractors, especially where timely responses were directly related to maintaining the project schedule. As an example, the responsibility of material handling on site was not assigned to a project team member; therefore, the laydown area was accessible to all contractors and was not controlled. While this did not raise significant issues, assigning this role to an individual as a part time duty could have increased the efficiency of construction activities. Construction site staff completed a daily work log. While all staff contributed to this useful reference tool throughout the project, having an electronic log would have been an improvement to this process, allowing for easier referencing and information searches in the future. Weekly status reports were completed for the project manager to pass on to senior management. Numerous photos were taken throughout the project stages for documentation. These photos were used for as-built purposes, financial discussions, safety discussions, and engineering support. The photos proved to be a valuable resource; however, they could have been more useful if a detailed filing system had been developed to log the thousands of photos. The Province of Alberta and the City of Edmonton experienced an economic boom due to the price of oil at the time of this project. Contractors had difficulty staffing well-trained and qualified personnel in the specialized fields required for this project. This presented challenges in maintaining the schedule and ensuring quality standards were met. In one case, a contractor was awarded two separate contracts for different aspects of the project. During construction, the contractor was found to be competing within their organization for resources and experienced personnel to complete each contract. 5 CITY PLANNING

The owners main project team was formed in June of 2005, and consisted of a project manager, substation project coordinator, cable project coordinator, finance, document control, purchasing, scheduling, regulatory affairs, and public consultation groups. This team evolved as the project progressed and members from safety, environmental, legal, and engineering support became involved. When the project progressed into construction, a construction manager, quality assurance supervisor, safety supervisors, construction engineers, and site administration were also added. The size of the team was small for the scale of the project. Clearly defined roles for the project team were required early on to avoid duplication of effort and to ensure nothing was overlooked. Additional staff

EPCOR anticipated that permitting and City approvals would be extensive, and began coordinating and planning with the City from the very early stages of the project. Meetings began prior to the design contract being awarded to determine initial requirements and to map out the best plan for working with the City. Preliminary planning involved determining what permits and City review stages were required and developing key contacts with various City departments. Early consultation with the City also allowed them to share their plans for the expansion of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, which resulted in changes to the planned transmission line route. Initial consultation with the City revealed that the installation methods used for the construction of the underground duct line would have to be considered in

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the design stage of the project. Selection of the exact routing of the transmission line required evaluation of the construction obstacles that would be faced, as well as the impact of construction on the surrounding neighborhoods. The route selected minimized disruption to roadways by constructing several kilometers of the transmission line through an old rail line that is now used as a multi-use recreation corridor. Careful selection of the route still posed construction challenges. It was identified that one construction method could not be used to construct the entire 10.5 km route. The majority of the transmission line route was constructed using open trenching to install the concrete encased duct bank. At two roadway crossing locations, the City would not allow the road to be open trenched due to the high traffic volume. At these locations, the jack and bore method was used to cross under the roadway without impact to traffic. In another location, the transmission line had to cross under a large railway yard and a major arterial highway that runs through Edmonton. Again, in this case, open trenching was not an option. At this location, a 520 m Horizontal Directional Drill (HDD) was used to complete the crossing. In both the jack and bore and HDD installations, a casing pipe was first installed, the duct line conduit was then pulled through the casing pipe, and finally the casing pipe was filled with concrete. In Edmonton, a Utility Line Assignment (ULA) is required for all newly constructed utility routes. In order to start construction without delay, it was determined what information was needed for ULA submission and the drawings were prepared before the Issued for Construction (IFC) package. This allowed the ULA permits to be applied for in advance of the IFC drawings being issued, giving time for ULA review and approval to be completed in advance of the scheduled start of construction. Late in the ULA process it was identified that the location of the planned LRT had recently changed, resulting in a conflict with the planned routing of the underground transmission line. Stantec and EPCOR had to work quickly to revise the design and move a segment of the underground transmission cable route from one side of a roadway to the opposite side. This resulted in a significant effort to re-issue drawings and then re-submit them for ULA approval. Due to the contacts that were developed early on with the City and the contractors plans to not commence construction at this location until a later date, the revision time was minimal and did not impact the overall schedule of the construction project, as well as eliminated construction rework. Due to ongoing redevelopment of the area surrounding the substation, plans were taken to a City redevelopment committee. Long term closures of the road and alley adjacent to the substation also required special permits and planning to ensure scheduling was acceptable.

UNDERGROUND UNKNOWNS

In an urban environment, there are often a variety of utility services including water, sewer, drainage, power distribution, natural gas, telephone cable, and television cable running underground. These services are found at different locations and at different elevations. As well, each utility has a required minimum clearance that must be maintainedno other underground facility may be constructed within a minimum distance from an existing underground utility. There are clearance requirements for both separation of a line crossing, as well as the separation required between parallel lines. Unlike above ground services such as overhead power lines, one cannot easily determine the exact location of underground facilities. In this case, City records of the location of all utilities must be relied upon. Some locations can be verified by measurements taken at manholes or other access points, however, these verifications are limited to point locations only and do not verify elevations of the entire line. Not all records provided complete data, and in many cases, exact elevations at a particular point where a utility was crossing the duct line were unknown, so elevations had to be extrapolated between two known points. The underground transmission line needed to bend under and over a maze of existing lines; however, the transmission cable could not twist and bend at the will of the route designer. Due to the size of the cable, the design required careful consideration of the minimum bend radius and the maximum pulling tension of the cable allowed between vaults. Even with the possibility of snaking the route between existing lines, the cable would not be able to bend through a duct line route with numerous horizontal or vertical bends. In addition, the cable also required a minimum depth to ensure there was enough ground cover to dissipate the heat that will be generated by the operating cable. All design clearances and avoiding conflicts with an existing underground utility were based on the data in the City records. This design was IFC to the contractor without verification of the actual locations of existing underground utilities. Upon award of the construction work, the contractor was informed of the method by which the design was produced and advised of the risk of error, inaccuracy, or lack of information in the City records. At the commencement of construction, the contractor located and exposed utility crossings only as needed for construction. This approach proved to be inefficient due to differing elevations between actual and provided records. The difference in information resulted in cases where construction was delayed to determine alternate routing, and in one instance, part of the already constructed duct line had to be removed to adjust the duct location.

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After seeing these delay issues arise very early in the project, Stantec, EPCOR, and the contractor worked together to determine how to minimize delays and rework. It was determined that the contractor would work ahead with an additional crew to physically locate all utility crossings on the duct line route. Locations were discovered using a hydrovac truck and survey crew to provide the detailed, accurate measurements. Working ahead to determine exact locations proved to be an excellent decision for the progress of construction. In some cases, major differences in elevations were found, which resulted in significant design effort being required to re-plan the cable routing in these locations. By having the information ahead of time, the field support staff and design staff were able to evaluate options and prepare a new design without delaying construction. This project would have benefited further if the work to determine exact locations and elevations at all utility crossings was done prior to the design stage. Accurate design data would have resulted in IFC drawings that required significantly less re-work during the construction phase and less updating effort during the as-built stage. 7 SEQUENCING OF WORK

The underground duct line was constructed with three or more crews working on different areas of the route. Much of the route was constructed along roadways that required lane closures for construction. The City traffic standards outline regulations on allowable road closure times including limitations during peak traffic hours (morning and afternoon rush hours), evenings, and weekends. In addition, a number of events occurring in close proximity to the areas of construction imposed restrictions on allowable dates and times of road closures. To ensure the contractor performing construction of the underground duct line could plan appropriately for the allowable road closure dates and times, this information was collected during the design phase of the project and provided in the technical specifications of the duct line construction package. This information was collected through meetings with various groups at the City to ensure closure information covered both regular road closure regulations, as well as coordination with City construction activities and special events. During construction, further meetings and consultations were necessary to review requirements and establish plans for specific closures for each location. Permitting and signage requirements had to be considered several days to weeks ahead of when a closure was required. This required special attention by the construction contractor to ensure that all work crews sequencing of work was well planned and that alternate

options were available to ensure work crews were not stalled by limitations set by the various road closure constraints. Signage for the road closures was coordinated with the City. Clear marking of construction zones were important in slowing traffic to protect the workers and the public. At Victoria Terminal Substation, the space to construct the substation was very limited and presented many design difficulties in trying to fit the required equipment onto two city lots. The underground space constraints presented even more impediments to determining how to fit a building basement, transformer foundation, containment pit, numerous piles, drainage system, underground cable trays, the new transmission line duct line, and two relocated existing underground transmission cables, all under two city lots. The transformer foundation and building foundation were constructed first. Then the piles were installed. After piling was complete, construction of the underground transmission line duct bank was started. Due to the minimum bend radius of the cables, the duct line in the substation was approximately five meters deep to allow the cable to make the 90 degree bend from running underground to rising vertically out of the ground. Excavation of the duct line to five meters would be challenging in any location, but as the duct bank ran very close to a number of piles and the transformer foundation in the substation yard, the task was even more complex. To ensure that the integrity of the piles were not compromised during the duct bank excavation, a series of steel rods were designed to span between piles, connecting to piles that were not exposed in the duct bank excavation. This ensured that the excavated piles did not move in any direction, which was critical in ensuring clearance requirements for electrical equipment was maintained. After construction of the duct bank, backfill techniques had to be evaluated to ensure the effectiveness and location of the piles was not compromised. Traditional compaction techniques could result in damage and movement of the piles. In some locations, fillcrete (a low strength concrete) was used as it does not require compaction and has suitable friction properties. In other locations, backfill was compacted with a smaller compaction device to minimize vibrations around the piles. Once the site was backfilled to a level where the piles were considered stable, standard backfill and compaction techniques were used. All work inside of EPCORs energized substations must be performed under qualified safety supervision. Chain link fencing on concrete jersey barriers was used to separate the new construction site from the existing energized yard. This reduced the amount of supervision required and allowed the contractors to work without restriction in the areas of new construction. This fence was easy to move and reconfigurable to accommodate construction access.

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It was intended that the construction of the substation was to be completed in several stages. The civil construction was to be completed prior to the general electrical contractor being on site. Due to construction delays, there were two main contractors and multiple sub-contractors on site at the same time. Construction coordination meetings were formally held weekly and informally on a daily basis to determine work fronts, discuss safety on a small work space, and minimize conflict on work zones. Due to the small construction zone, the contractors often shared construction equipment such as back hoes and manlifts. Prior to starting some of the more complex construction activities, constructability reviews were held to discuss sequence of work, safe work planning, and equipment and materials required. These reviews could have been more beneficial if they were held earlier in the project and more frequently to ensure designs were constructible and all materials were available. 8 FIELD CHANGE AND DESIGN CHANGE SUPPORT

It is impossible to eliminate all changes during construction, so proper planning to manage changes was critical. Changes during construction can range from a design modification due to material or equipment substitution, changes to construction methodology, opportunities for cost savings, and encountering unexpected field conditions. When a situation arises where a change is required, it can often lead to review and re-design by the design consultant or the project engineering support team working in the field. Typical process for issue management would begin by a construction crew identifying an issue, notifying the field engineering support team, review by the field engineering support team, review and reporting of the issue to the design consultant, return of a revised design from the consultant, and the field engineering team communicating this change back to the construction contractor. This process is typical and straightforward. The challenge is managing this process to ensure all changes are properly documented and recorded, and ensuring that the process occurs in a timely manner to minimize delays in construction. To ensure information was clear and properly documented, a simple Field Change Notice (FCN) system was developed. The system was based on a single page form that documented issues and provided instructions on changes required to address the issue. The FCN system was effective because it was managed within a clearly defined process for reporting, review, and approval of all information. This ensured that the critical information in each FCN was communicated to

the right people in a time efficient manner. The system was not complex and was easily developed; it worked because of its simplicity. For the underground transmission line, Stantec provided a field engineer to support EPCORs construction management team. The engineer worked out of the construction management office and was in the field daily to respond to issues arising during construction. Having this resource in the field allowed EPCOR and Stantec to react quickly to issues that arose during construction. In many instances, the field engineer could respond to an issue and work with EPCORs engineer to resolve it without delay, ensuring proper FCN documentation was generated to record the change. In other cases, where the field engineer was not able to resolve the issue on site, she was able to immediately access the design team at Stantec to determine a resolution. This direct link to the design team eliminated a step in the communication chain and allowed EPCOR to benefit from minimal delays in construction while issues were being resolved. For the construction of the substations, EPCOR placed one of their own engineers and an Engineer In Training (EIT) in the construction management office to provide a similar field engineering support role. In the case of the substation work, the new construction was being integrated with existing infrastructure, making the presence of EPCOR engineers with knowledge of the existing sites an important element in the field engineers positions. Unlike the underground transmission line that was new construction, the substation construction took place beside and integrated with existing equipment. Field support for the substations was managed through a similar process of having the field engineers available and on site to evaluate issues and determine how to manage them. The EPCOR engineer and EIT were both electrical engineers, with extensive experience in substations. However, their experience and knowledge regarding civil and structural construction was limited, given that this was not their area of specialty. EPCOR field engineers quickly determined that the optimal process for handling field construction issues depended upon the nature of the issue. In the case of civil or structural issues, EPCOR field engineers contacted Stantecs engineers or designers for consultation. Often, Stantecs personnel would visit the site to review the issue and determine a resolution. In the case of electrical or equipment issues, the EPCOR engineers were often able to resolve the issue on their own, or in the case of requiring consultation from Stantec, they could communicate enough detail that site visits from Stantecs electrical personnel were often not required. This combined process of addressing issues ensured that adequate experience and knowledge was used to address issues, while also ensuring a problem was resolved as quickly as possible.

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Where design changes were required to address issues encountered in the field, sketches were used, where appropriate, to communicate the changes. A design change may require new information on dimensions or other information that requires a drawing to clearly communicate this information. To revise and re-issue a drawing that has been IFC, the process can be slow and is not conducive to the quick turn around required to minimize delays in construction. The processes of quality review, stamping, and permitting a drawing takes time and involves a number of people, regardless of the change made. By issuing sketches instead of revising issued drawings, Stantec and EPCOR were able to work together to ensure design changes were clearly communicated, but communicated in the most efficient time possible. The sketches were used only where appropriate, but provided a valuable system for making changes and then tracking these changes to ensure the information was included during the red-line mark up of construction drawings. For the substations, IFC drawings were issued at various stages to allow construction to begin without delays. Given the staged issuance of drawings, careful attention was required to ensure that the correct revisions of drawings were being used at the time of construction. It was determined that the contractors often did not issue new revisions of the drawings to their field crews. This was managed by the owners on site quality assurance supervisor continually inspecting the drawings on site. If the revision was not correct, the contractor was ordered to stop construction until the proper revision was produced.

CONCLUSIONS

The new substation and underground transmission cable were successfully energized in October 2008, meeting an important milestone in the successful completion of the project. As required by the AESO, the project was completed on schedule and within budget. Meeting the schedule and budget commitments on this project was a key measure of success for the project. Despite a long list of challenges, the project team was able to deliver a successful project by planning for anticipated challenges and being flexible enough to adapt the project execution plan as new obstacles arose. During the design phase, the team worked to find alternative design methods and equipment options to work within the limited space of the new substation. Construction changes were addressed with up front planning to anticipate problems and deal with them early to reduce delays. Some of the lessons learned on this project were gained through careful planning and anticipation. In these cases, measures to deal with these challenges were put in place early. However, no matter how well any project team plans for a project, unexpected challenges are always going to arise and the true measure of a successful project is the ability for that project team to be flexible enough to manage these issues as they arise and find solutions that keep the project on track.

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