We have experience in all aspects of the power lines industry; from 11kV to 500kV+, new builds to refurbishments, condition assessments to asset management, site support and design verifications to project management – we’ve done, and can do, it all.
Our team has worked around the world, in incredibly diverse and difficult environments; from remote, dry deserts, to wild, wet rainforests, urban cities, to cyclone-prone prairies - no matter what your challenge, we understand what’s required.
•
Line route selection:
•
Optimum structure spotting
•
Constructability (heavy vehicle access,
construction lay down areas, machine setup sites)
•
Environmental constraints (allowable easement widths, vegetation clearance, existing buildings and infrastructure, landowner and heritage constraints).
•
Line route survey (ground-based, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV))
•
Technical assistance for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), Impact Assessment Reports (IAR)
•
Stakeholder management (e.g., power utilities, landowners, community representatives)
•
Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for tenders.
•
Wire and electrical clearance diagrams
•
Plan and profile drawings
•
Structural steel installation general arrangements
•
Fabrication details, material lists and bolt lists
•
Route and access maps
•
Set and insulator designs
•
Foundation general arrangements and setting level diagrams
•
Line schedules and asset records.
•
Conductor and earth wire selection
•
Electrical design aspects for structural geometry (conductor spacings, earth wire shield angles)
•
Insulation coordination studies and outage performance design
•
Insulation design
•
Earthing design.
•
PLS-CADD modelling:
•
Line design optimisation (optimum spotting design including conductor tensions, structure heights and weights, foundations, cost analysis)
•
Line design upgrades:
•
Increasing ground clearances
•
Reconductoring
•
Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) installations
•
Line cut ins and augmentations
•
Wind and solar generation connections:
•
Reticulation and termination designs
•
Conductor vibration and galloping designs
•
Construction documentation:
•
Plan and profile designs
•
Line schedules
•
Construction staking schedules
•
Material lists
•
Stringing schedules
•
Damper placement charts.
•
Structural designs using:
•
Power Line Systems suite
•
SPACE GASS.
•
Structural loadings (in accordance with industry standards and asset owners’ requirements):
•
Load trees and charts
•
Structural geometry designs based on electrical, operational and maintenance requirements.
•
Lattice tower designs and optimisations:
•
Guyed or self-supporting
•
Detailed designs and modification and strengthening designs for existing structures
•
New structure designs and optimisations
•
Tower bracings
•
Tower dimensions
•
Optimisation curves
•
Structure detailings and connection designs, including fabrication drawings
•
Optimisations for cost and weight.
•
Pole structure designs:
•
Wood, steel, concrete, composite, fi bre reinforced and stobie.
•
Guyed or self-supporting (including multi-pole structures)
•
Detailed design checks and modifi cation/ strengthening design for existing structures•
•
New structure design and optimisation.
•
Structure procurement specifi cations:
•
Load trees and charts
•
Structural outlines and geometry
•
Key connection and attachment plate design requirements
•
Full scale structure prototypings and load testings.
•
Designs for lattice tower, guyed tower, direct embedded and base plate connected poles
•
Foundation designs for difficult terrain and environments:
•
Pad and chimney
•
Long pile (belled and unbelled)
•
Rock anchor
•
Large pad.
•
Integrity & As-built assessments of existing piled foundations using Transient Dynamic Response (TDR) technology
•
Management of geotechnical investigations
•
Foundation upgrades and strengthening.
Groundline understands the importance of independent verification and working with designers to ensure a safe, code compliant, constructible design that remains long after we have gone.
Independent verifications and peer reviews, carried out by a third-party expert, reduce the risk of costly mistakes and oversights.
This is where Groundline comes in.
You can rest assured knowing with our global reach and ongoing investment in training and upskilling, we have a comprehensive understanding of your local standards and will bring international best practice to bear on your project.
Overhead line construction and maintenance is in our blood. We started on the ground, and use the expertise and knowledge gained in the work we do today.
We provide robust and accurate operational support:
•
Engineering field checks
•
Rigging load calculations
•
Structural capacity checks
•
Plant and equipment compliance checks
•
Stringing and sagging management:
•
Stringing and sagging methodologies
•
Optimum conductor utilisation
•
Machine site setup and loading checks
•
Conductor running tensions
•
Critical observation spans
•
Uplift support
•
Procedural and quality assurance documentation
•
As-built verifications and documentation.
•
Line route survey and staking
•
Structure set-out pegging
•
Lattice tower stub setting and pole base plate engineering support and site assistance
•
Structural assessments:
•
Construction loadings
•
Maintenance loadings
•
Maintenance and construction electrical clearance checks.
Our desktop assessments and studies determine the condition of your assets and identify potential electrical infringements to vegetation or changes inland use or building developments. Depending on your requirements, they may be supplemented with, or informed by, site-based inspections and tests.
•
Feeder and circuit desktop reviews
•
Environmental studies
•
High-definition photographic inspections and data capture
•
Ground-based photography
•
Aerial inspections using helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).
Groundline seeks to understand our customers’ asset strategies so we can help deliver on them. We provide quality data and data interpretations, using nondestructive testing methods as much as possible.
•
Our testing methods include:
•
Transient Dynamic Response (TDR) testing and analysis of foundations
•
Earth impedance testing of transmission line structures
•
Steel corrosion measurements using ultrasonic techniques
•
Wood pole testing using our Thor pole tester
•
Geotechnical inspections and testing:
•
Bore holes (rotary and percussion)
•
Trial pits
•
Intrusive foundation inspections
•
Soil sampling
•
Peat probing
•
Slope stability assessments
•
Seismic risk assessments (liquefaction).
