BGE Wilkens to Westport
Underground Utility – Baltimore City, MD
For this power grid upgrade, Gaines and Company installed a new electrical duct bank system connecting the Wilkens Avenue and Westport substations in Baltimore City. Gaines and Company is the underground utility services contractor for Argo Systems, a direct hire of Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) Exelon Company.
Underground cabling and large electrical splice bolts were installed in a nine way, six inch diameter concrete encased duct bank extending approximately 4,500 linear feet. The 115KV cable project required hydro excavation, conduit piping and casting and concrete work. Gaines and Company crews met and exceeded all challenges for this intricate urban underground utility project including heavy traffic control, adverse terrain, flooding, existing utilities, materials transport and for crew safety, the installation of 100 feet of trench boxes.
Gaines and Company crews were prepared for extreme safety measures required during this complicated project. Materials and clothing were fire resistant mandated. Shoring and trench safety mechanisms met and surpassed OSHA regulations and crewmembers are OSHA trained and certified. According to Gaines and Company’s project manager Eric Boone, “all of our policies and procedures strictly follow the highest safety standards, ensuring a tight safety net.”
Pictured is 100 feet of trench boxes to keep the underground pipeline crews safe as new duct banks were installed.
The Westport to Wilkens Electric Reliability Project is part of BGE’s Electric Reliability Investment (ERI) Initiative to improve the electric distribution system throughout central Maryland. Gaines and Company’s new duct bank is an integral part of this overall initiative and will serve to reroute power more quickly during outages. Work began in the summer of 2018 and will be completed in late 2019.
BG&E Westport Substation in Baltimore City required substantial reliability upgrades.
