Project Description

In 2019, the underground transformers at two locations in downtown Vancouver required upgrading as part of BC Hydro’s Maintenance project.

The scope of work consisted of replacing the existing BC Hydro vaults V0016 and V0064 with new 1617 standard vaults at both locations, and new Siemens submersible 167kVA transformers.

There were many risks associated with replacing V0016 and V0064 during this endeavour, including lengthy outages.

Our Role

To mitigate these risks, RAM prepared underground civil and electrical designs for vault replacements that minimized potential outages that could severely affect consumers. Our electrical engineering team prepared the replacement designs for both V0016 and V0064 vaults. The scope of work also included the following:

• Corresponding with City of Vancouver to ensure construction permits were approved for all designs;
• Attending construction site visits and meetings involving hold/witness points on civil designs to ensure proper installation of vaults and trench cut prior to backfill;
• Preparing project cost estimates and material requests required for designs;
• Creating designs which avoided lengthy outages;
• Outlining the need for diesel generators to save on construction costs;
• Underground asset inspections of devices that were affected by vault replacement.