Project brief

33Kv emergency works are generally completed over a programme of works but it doesn’t make the task any easier than a conventional emergency job mobilised to site.

In November 2024 Doocey Group mobilised to Portbury Dock in Bristol to assist with cable identification works to attempt to locate the location of the cable fault. At this point the Portbury Docks networks was at risk as only one of the 33Kv legs were in circuit placing the dockland at a high risk of losing supply.

It became apparent that this was not going to be and easy fix. From the initial fault location works it was established that the location of the cable fault was within a marsh area with poor ground stability. With the assistance of our SHEQ and operational delivery teams, a plan was hatched which saw large water pumps, silt busters, large plant and bog matts mobilsed. Within a few days the location of the fault was exposed for further investigation. We established that 60m of cable was required to be renew back to a nearby substation to ensure the networks could be restored to its desired condition.

The next stage of works was the easy part or so we thought. 60m of track work was installed back to the substation and a large jointing position in front of the National Grid substation. This was not as straight forward as initially envisaged but with the expertise of the operational team, support of the plant hire department and SHEQ team, this new obstacle was overcome.

Challenges and how we overcame them

It became clear following excavation at the front of the National Grid substation to establish a jointing position that additional work was required due to ground conditions and volume of existing utilities within the footprint. This included changing the dept of the existing cables (over 4m deep from existing ground level). We called on the assistance of MGF our supply chain partner who proposed with a plan to safely establish an excavation which created safe access and egress with the required working area within the excavation of the 33Kv cable jointing.

Outcome to Date

There were many challenges and obstacles with these works, but with the help of our experienced direct labour, support departments and supply chain partner, Doocey Group successfully delivered on behalf of our client.