Substation Infrastructure

CHEVRON REFINERY

Project Value: $3 Million

Scope

Site work and foundations for new substation and electrical distribution infrastructure. Included Installation of power poles and conduit to support construction of new substation.

Earth Moving
Grading

Paving
Underground

Masonry
Mechanical Piping

Challenge

Substation site was in an inaccessible hillside behind a main active refinery pipeway.

Solution

We constructed temporary access over the pipeway for mass excavation and construction of a 35-foot tie-back wall and secondary wall. Because of the topography and site access, we excavated and sloped the entire slope, constructed the wall to full height, drilled tiebacks then installed and tensioned through the new wall in concert with the wall backfill. We removed the old pipeway for access and constructed a new pipeway above and around the substation — completing the piping tie-ins without disrupting refinery operations.

Multiple power pole foundations of differing designs for the main feeder were constructed for the 115Kv feeder lines into the substation, some up to 10 feet in diameter and more than 40 feet deep and others being large pile-supported concrete foundations with 15 to 20 piles each. We constructed all underground duct banks as well as the elevated substation foundation and associated structural steel. New distribution pole foundations were constructed, again with some being large deep drilled piers and other being pile-supported hollow concrete poles.