Olex designs, manufactures and Installs Tasmanian Submarine Cable project
13 Nov 2007
Olex recently completed the design, manufacture and installation of a 10 MVA, 22kV underground and submarine circuit for Aurora Energy in Tasmania.
The total project value was $2.7 million and the circuit comprised 1.3 km of three core, TRXLPE insulated land cable and 1.7 km of three core TRXLPE insulated submarine cable and was installed across the Tamar River near Georgetown in Northern Tasmania. Olex displayed great flexibility and ingenuity by delivering the project within a very strict timeframe due to the shark migration season on the Tamar River, making it off limits for all of October and November.
The initial concept design was undertaken by Olex’ project team in Tottenham. Olex then won the rights to design, manufacture and install the cable and accessories with a proposal that was superior both commercially and technically, and with a program that was more expedient than other proposals.
The project specifications outlined that the submarine cable be completely waterblocked. The Olex project team worked closely with Olex development team to design, source and test the materials required to ensure that the specifications of the project were met.
Olex were also able to reduce the manufacturing time for both the land and submarine cable to accommodate the shark migration season.
Olex appointed Daly’s constructions as the installation contractor. Daly’s had not previously installed submarine cable and developed and manufactured some specialised equipment to enable them to do so. Local expertise was also sourced so as to enable the submarine cable installation to be done safely and in a timely manner. The Olex project team also developed a specialised anchoring mechanism for the submarine cable that is rated to hold 10 Tonne of cable weight.
The first submarine cable installation was unique in that is was a shore to shore installation. Olex however, was able to draw upon the knowledge and expertise of Nexans Norway for this installation.
The drum was mounted on a drum stand on the shore of one side of the river and was pulled across to the other side by a winch truck parked on the other. The cable was pulled off the drum and into protective piping that ensured that the cable was protected from land to well past the low tide mark, floated across the river, guided back into protective piping and then pulled into the anchoring and jointing location. Divers guided the cable out of and into the protective piping on each side of the river and ensured that the cable sat cleanly on the sea bed when it was dropped from the floatation devices.
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