National Grid has selected a 50/50 joint venture between Carillion and Eltel Networks, the Carillion Eltel JV, to construct a £38m, 400kV double circuit overhead line.
The new line will run between National Grid’s existing Canterbury North 400kV substation and a new 400kV substation at Richborough in Kent. The project encompasses the design, procurement and construction of 60 new steel lattice towers and the installation of the associated fittings and conductors across a 20km route, together with the subsequent dismantling and removal of an existing 132kV overhead line consisting of 79 towers, which runs between the Richborough and Canterbury South Substations.
The project is complex in its delivery requirements, with a need to coordinate temporary and permanent diversions of existing 132kV overhead lines during the construction phase, and a significant element of temporary access roads, bridge structures, highway works, construction compounds, protective scaffold structures and ecological mitigation works.
The project will be the first overhead line construction to be undertaken under the new Development Consent Order planning requirements which place greater focus managing environmental and local community impact. Design and planning work for the project will commence immediately with construction work starting in summer 2017. Work is due to be completed in 2020.
Mark Davies, managing director of Carillion’s infrastructure business said: “We are delighted to have been selected to deliver this important project for National Grid, which demonstrates our experience and expertise in the transmission sector.
“Being chosen to deliver this important project, which is first the new build overhead line project of this scale to be constructed in England for many years, reflects our reputation for reliable delivery, high standards of quality, value for money, innovation and sustainability, together with the strength of our long-term customer relationships.”
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