When approached by the Auckland Airport team regarding the planned construction of the Foodstuffs head office and warehouse within their infrastructure, we knew the scale of the project was going to be HUGE.
And we weren’t wrong.
With 12km of cabling required to connect two massive 10-ton transformers, this was not a job for the faint of heart!
Luckily, with the skill and capacity to undertake virtually any project, the DGE team simply got stuck in with their work.
The Challenges
The sheer scale of this job was the first challenge our team had to overcome. When you need 12km of cabling and the cable reels only come in lengths of 300m, a lot of thought has to go into where the safest and most strategic points are to make joins in the cables.
We also faced a challenge in the transformer room, when the doors of the transformer were open, there was not the appropriate amount of clearance required to meet code and safety standards. For some companies, this may have been a major issue. However, the DGE team simply went to the drawing board and suggested to the transformer supplier that barn-style doors be installed as opposed to the standard single hinge varieties.
This clever solution reinstated the necessary clearance space required and allowed the project to meet code. This was only possible as a result of our intricate knowledge of the regulations and what modifications are possible in these circumstances.
Our final challenge was completely out of everyone’s control – Covid. We had the majority of the cable pulled in when Covid hit New Zealand. As soon as lockdowns kicked in, the entire job had to be put on hold, creating an open-ended timeline.
The Scope
Powering the massive site housing the Foodstuffs head office and warehouse
The scale of this project is hard to fathom unless you look at the numbers involved! In order to power the site occupied by Foodstuffs, this project required the installation of a high voltage ring master unit, 12km of 11,000v cabling and circuit breaker units to service two 2.5MVA transformers.
And that was just to accommodate the current needs of the site. As there were plans to add additional transformers down the track, our team added six circuit breakers to the ring main to allow for future growth and expansion of the high voltage power network.
The Delivery
Adapting to new challenges when the best-laid plans go out the window!
When there is such a huge volume of cabling to lay across an enormous build site, careful planning and project management are definitely required. Then, when the best-laid plans were quite literally thrown out the window as a global pandemic swept the nation, the team had to be adaptable!
Pausing a project partway through is always difficult. All momentum is lost and any bookings for external contractors and testing equipment need to be cancelled and reinstated on a new timeline. Fortunately, our connections within the industry and proactive planning allowed the reactivation of the project to go as smoothly as possible once the Auckland-wide lockdowns finished.
The Outcome
Knowledge and expertise ensure a successful outcome
With plenty of bumps along the road to navigate, the journey to powering the Foodstuffs head office and warehouse still resulted in a successful outcome. Although the timeline was altered via Covid, our team was still able to ensure the network was live when required according to the revised deadline.
Our knowledge and expertise ensured that all the equipment was fit for purpose and able to meet the necessary legal regulations. Plus, unlike many other electrical engineers in NZ, our team had the capacity to handle the magnitude of the work required to lay 12km of cabling!
So, if your next project contains a high voltage component, DGE is the team to ensure a successful outcome regardless of what challenges might be involved. Chat with our team today about how we can assist.
Phone: 09 526 3992
Email: enquires@dge.nz