Scope of Work:

• Provided a new 15 KV submarine electrical cable for power supply to Burton Island State Park
• Connection to the electric grid at Kill Kare State Park
• Placed approximately 4,000lf underwater
• Reconnected to existing pole mounted supply to Burton Island
• Installed new Loadbreak equipment at each end in pad mounted enclosures

We delivered the Burton Island Cable Replacement project under budget and ahead of schedule.

Awards:

The work we did on this project resulted in Kingsbury winning the 2016 AGC VT Best Builders Award for “Heavy Industrial, Submarine”.

Meeting the challenge of a difficult job.

The submarine, electrical transmission line servicing the Burton Island State Park had failed and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation needed to restore the electrical service across Lake Champlain before the next camping season. In order to minimize impacts during the tourist and recreation season, the work needed to be performed through the winter months between November 1, and May 15. Cold weather and ice in late fall and winter needed to be factored into the schedule, as well as high water conditions at the shoreline in early spring. Long lead times for the cable made scheduling even more difficult.

Battling icy winds, waves, rain and snow, Kingsbury Companies’ installation team was able to restore power to Burton Island for the People of the State of Vermont. When fully commissioned, the new service was delivered under budget and ahead of schedule.

Innovation in construction techniques, materials or scheduling.

The lead time for the submarine cable drove the schedule for an early spring installation during high water making details at the shoreline difficult. In order to work with the weather, sleeves were placed so that rip rap and other shoreline work could take place during low water prior to the delivery of the cable. The sleeve was installed by open cut and rip rap placed by shore and barge. Once the cable arrived in early spring, it was pulled through the sleeve and placed by tug and barge to the exact arc and location using cable pull and brake guided by GPS.

Projects contribution to the community.

Burton Island Park is among the most unique State Parks in Vermont and is accessed solely by boat. The Park offers campers and tourists remote access with modern amenities. With renewed electric service to the island, the Nature Center, Museum, Store and Food Service amenities can continue to provide a quality experience to all of the visitors to Burton Island.  As part of the project, the abandoned service to the Island was completely removed from the lake along with additional cables that were unexpectedly found. This removal of abandoned utilities restores the lake bottom and eliminates potential safety concerns for users of the lake.

Sensitivity to the environmental surroundings.

With significant excavation and placement of stone in the lake bottom, special consideration was given to placement and maintenance of turbidity barriers to contain disturbed water and ensure that sediment did not travel outside the work area. Turbidity in the water was monitored regularly throughout the project.

Outstanding safety record.

For the duration of the diving portions of the project, the dive team consistently met requirements for redundancy, supervision, communication and reporting. Job Hazard Analysis was performed for each portion of the work with customized training for the installation team.  Safety audits were performed and emergency procedures reviewed on a daily basis.  Over the span of the 6 month project, there were zero accidents or injuries.