CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Cleveland Utilities plans to break ground this year on a major electric project to improve the power infrastructure within the city’s northeastern corridor areas.
The project, which calls for installing an electric tie line along Peach Orchard Hill Road, received $250,000 through the Community Development Block Grant Supplemental Disaster Recovery Fund. The project area, which extends between Michigan Avenue and Benton Pike, sustained damage in the April 2011 storms.
In a recent meeting, Bart Borden, vice president of the electric division, discussed the project’s status with Cleveland Utilities board members.
“We expect to begin breaking ground this spring, and we will complete the new line work by September,” he said. “Right now, we are awaiting materials.”
The new tie line is intended to provide service redundancy to the area’s residential, commercial and industrial customers, he said. Key facilities benefiting from the project include the new Whirlpool site on Benton Pike and the Cleveland Regional Jetport on Michigan Avenue.
Design for the project, which extends over two miles and uses steel poles, was completed in November and the state notified Cleveland Utilities of its approval in mid-December, Borden said.
In December, electrical engineer Jeff Luther reviewed the project’s design complexity in a presentation to the utility board.
Optimal pole placements were determined through the use of computer-aided design and drafting software, Luther said. The technological tool allowed him to plug in thousands of GPS points and mix them with an wide range of variables, including weather, electrical loads and terrain features such as ground contour, roads and structures, he said.
The specialized software encompasses “virtually everything that has to do with pole construction,” said Luther, citing the ability to analyze the impact of internal and external stresses upon wires, poles and other components.
From a compliance perspective, the software also provides national safety code updates for clearances of power lines relative to buildings and roads, he said.
Borden praised both the software and Luther’s expertise in its use, which have resulted in savings in consulting fees and design work on the Peach Orchard Hill Road project.
Cleveland Utilities is contributing $296,622 in labor to the project, officials said.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.