In the Yaletown neighbourhood of Vancouver, overhead distribution lines run down both sides of Mainland and Hamilton Streets, which are narrow and densely occupied by pedestrian traffic for large parts of the day. The overhead transformers are too close to building windows and do not meet the current Canadian Electrical Code requirements of six metres for oil-filled transformers.

Our Role

RAM’s electrical engineering team has provided the design and engineering of additional primary and secondary underground systems to support the removal of the overhead system. The primary systems were operating at 12 kV but rated for 25kV, while the secondary underground systems included the distribution of 347/600V from transformer vaults into customer buildings.

RAM’s scope of work is comprehensive, and includes the following services:

• Supporting the conversion of the customer sites to accept 600VAC;
• Designing and engineering the removal of the existing overhead primary and secondary plant;
• Coordinating with third parties in regard to logistics and planning, including the City of Vancouver, Telus, Shaw, FortisBC, and Metro Vancouver;
• Preparing tender packages, support during construction, outage coordination, and coordination between civil and electrical contractors.