Ergon Energy has completed and energised a new $80 million, 107km section of network between the Isis substation and Gayndah in Queensland.
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The first of 463 concrete poles was put in place in October 2021 and across 78,037 hours of planning, design and construction activities, crews strung more than 400km of conductor.
Ergon Energy project manager Gary McMillan said crews had constant challenges thrown at them throughout the construction.
“We had COVID-19 restrictions throughout 2021/22, a one-in-one-hundred-year rain event in 2022, procurement and resourcing pressures, and the challenges of working through multiple private properties over a corridor more than100km long, throughout which we had great support from local landowners,” he said.
“It has been a massive team effort to get to the end—from planning and design through to the crews on the ground and our external suppliers—there’s been incredible commitment from everyone involved.”
“The teams led by Kenny Gold and Co-Ordinated by Shane Coonan went above and beyond at times. The team racked up 52,774 hours on the job working away from home. And it wouldn’t have been possible to achieve this project without the support on the ground of Rob Pataki and Charley Taplin,” McMillan said.
“It was a long stint for these travelling crews who had the support of crews from Gayndah, Biggenden, Childers, Toowoomba, Maryborough, and Bundaberg to help tie it all together.”
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“We can never promise our infrastructure won’t from time to time be impacted by animals or environmental conditions, but this project is an $80 million investment in our rural network and has significantly improved the security and reliability of supply to customers in the Burnett region.”
