Sarens Canada Helps Install 373 Miles of Electrical Lines in Ontario
April 19, 2022 - Sarens has participated in the development and improvements of the White River, Ontario, power system with the installation of 600km (373 mi.) of grid and power towers.
The project was focused on the elevation and transportation of several electricity towers that would be placed around White River, a mountainous town in northern Ontario.
The work will increase access and energy capacity for the region’s residents. It’s an important project, as some of them live in remote locations scattered in the mountains. This project was carried out in collaboration with Sarens and Valard Construction, the suppliers of the electrical infrastructure.
The work to extend the electrical network began in July 2020, when Covid-19 was at a peak. Sarens coordination and safety measures overcame the setback, and the installation was completed on schedule, in December 2021.
To start the project, the Sarens’ team first analyzed the terrain, since the towers were installed in remote and difficult to access locations due to the mountainous geography of the region. For this reason, the Sarens team of experts selected machinery that could overcome slopes, and terrain’s irregularities, besides making available to the project managers lifting booms, which could be high enough to lift and place the towers with reliability.
Two 160T and three 200T cranes were selected, both capable of being handled on any type of terrain and to lift the electric towers which were 61 meters high and 2,000 lbs. (907KG). Just the transportation to the site took 16 hours, from the beginning of the works at the first location, located 1,200 km away from where the cranes and the rest of the equipment were located. The process of transporting material, lifting the tower and relocating it was repeated over the 600 km to complete the entire installation.
Some of the challenges faced by the Sarens team at this facility were the extremely low temperatures, as the White River region is considered one of the coldest in all of Canada, reaching -58Cº, second only to Snag Yukon at -62.8Cº, located near Alaska. During the work the temperature reached -40Cº, but according to Luke Goodfellow, project manager, "the Sarens team worked tirelessly to meet the agreed deadline".
Faced with difficulties, such as the unevenness of the terrain and extreme temperatures, experience plays a key role, allowing a good organization to carry out the work without major adversities. That is why Sarens’ 60 years of experience brought to light its adaptability and wit in projects of different characteristics, allowing to finish the work meeting the objectives set in an efficient and resolute way.
