2004 Submarine Cable Project

Orcas Power & Light
2004 Submarine Cable Project

August 6 to September 1, 2004 - Preparing the Land Sites

August 23 - September 2, 2004 - Blakely Hillside Bore

September 9 - 14, 2004 - Retrieving the Cables

September 16, 2004 - Shaw to Orcas Fiber Optic Cable

September 19, 2004 - Lopez to Shaw Fiber Optic Cable

The Composite Cable

October 3 & 4, 2004 - Blakely to Orcas Composite Install

October 4 & 5, 2004 - Decatur-Blakely Composite Install

October 6, 2004 - Project Finish

Photos by: Marcia Gillingham, Richard Billings, Terry Turner

Printable copies of photos are available upon request to qualified media outlets

Background
After a two and a half year permit and planning process, Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) completed their 2004 Submarine Cable Project during September and October of 2004. The project was under the supervision of Terry Turner, Project Manager, Mark Tilstra, Project Engineer and Marcia Gillingham, Contract Administrator. Caldwell Marine International, Inc. (CMI) of Toms River, New Jersey provided the cables and was the marine contractor.

The project consisted of the installation of four new submarine cables: two composite 69kV, 350 MCM, copper conductor, with a 64 strand fiber optic cables provided by J-Power Systems; two 48 strand fiber optic, single-armor submarine cables provided by Ericsson; and the removal of two unused cables.

The utmost care was paid to the environmental issues of the project. Marine surveyors, marine biologists and an archaeologist were consulted at length during the planning process and were on-site at defined sensitive areas during the cable installation. Customized installation techniques were implemented at every crossing to minimize the environmental impact at each unique area. CMI custom built a special low-impact cable plow for the project in order to meet OPALCO’s rigorous environmental requirements. The cable installations through the regulated sea grass meadows exceeded expectations and set new industry standards for minimizing construction impacts to these important local marine habitats.

Preparing the sites for the new cables was a major project in itself. During the week of August 23rd, Armadillo Underground, Inc. of Salem, Oregon successfully completed the installation of two 150’ runs of steel duct in order to bypass the steep slope at the south end of Blakely Island. The 10” diameter steel pipes were horizontally drilled under the cliff in 10’ welded sections. These two ducts are to accommodate the new composite cable and a future 69kV cable installation. OPALCO crews and many local contractors were involved with the installation of the large concrete vaults that will anchor the cables and house the terminations on the shore end.

The retrieval of the two cables occurred from September 12th thru 15th, when CMI picked up a failed, 25kV, US Steel cable located between Decatur and Blakely islands, which has now been taken to Seattle for recycling. This cable was first placed in service in 1973 in the Lopez to San Juan crossing. In 1990, it was pulled up, cut in two and placed in the Decatur/Blakely and the Blakely/Orcas crossings. Also, particular care was given to the retrieval of an unused 25kV Pirelli cable from the Shaw/Orcas Crossing, originally installed in 1986. The cable proved to be in excellent condition and will be warehoused at OPALCO for future distribution use.

The Orcas Landing was alive with activity on September 16th with the start of the installation of the first fiber optic cable for the 4,600’ Shaw to Orcas, Harney Channel crossing. Using advanced technology, OPALCO crews pulled the cable from the barge up the 800’ Orcas Hill slope to the termination site. After field testing by a marine fisheries biologist to assure that the shore was free of forage fish spawning activity, the low impact plow technique was used for approximately 70’ at the shoreline to protect the eelgrass habitat.

The second fiber optic cable was installed utilizing the same procedures in the 6,500’ Lopez to Shaw crossing in Upright Channel from September 19th to 21st. CMI then headed to Tacoma where they loaded the 205 ton composite cable and retooled the barge with a deep water plow and the equipment needed for the installation of the composite cable. During this time, OPALCO crews and local contractors had been working relentlessly to prepare the beach areas at Deer Point on Orcas, the Blakely north and south submarine cable terminals, and the Decatur north submarine cable terminal for landfall of the cables. Some of the work had to take place during the night hours when the tides were most cooperative.

The CMI barge returned to San Juan County on October 1st, and, over the next two days, proceeded with the installation of 6,425’ of composite cable in the crossing from north Blakely Island to Deer Point on Orcas.

The 4,000’ crossing in Thatcher Pass from north Decatur to south Blakely took place from October 4th through 6th. At south Blakely, preparing the excavation on the beach began at 3:00am due to tidal constraints, and the cable was gently and slowly pulled up the steep slope into the previously installed 150’ steel duct from the beach to the termination site. This channel crossing was the deepest and most arduous due to the large number of rocks and boulders up to 20 feet across, and an uneven seafloor. Navigating the seafloor with the deep water plow proved extremely difficult for the cable installation crew, however, using plow-mounted sonar and with expert navigation skill on board the tugboats, the cable was successfully installed across the bottom.

The installation of the two composite cables are an essential part of OPALCO’s plan to convert the entire transmission system from 25kV to 69kV; the installation of the two fiber optic cables, along with the composite cables, complete OPALCO’s internal communications network and fiber optic backbone project.

Due to excellent planning and coordination on the part of OPALCO and CMI, and the assistance of many local businesses, the project was finished ahead of schedule and without incident.

Next on the schedule is the termination of the cables (connecting them to our existing system). The fiber optic cables are currently being terminated and should be operational by the end of the year. The composite cables will be terminated in 2005, as the current terminal sites need to be remodeled.

OPALCO would like to extend a sincere Thank You! to the following individuals and businesses for their unwavering support and cooperation throughout the project:

Anchor Environmental
Armadillo Underground, Inc.
Blakely Island Marina
Blue Water Engineering, Tony Petrillo
Cable Technology Laboratories, Inc.
Caldwell Marine International, Inc.
Cascade Harbor Inn
Condux International, Inc.
Cultural Resource Management, Steve Kenady
Richard Billings, Contract Engineer
Earthworks Company
Ericcson, Fiber optic Submarine Cable
Flying Diamond Iron Works, Pete Welty
Hardy Schmidt Excavating
Island Air
Island Concrete Products, Inc.
Island Excavating, Inc.
Island Transport Ferry Service
Island Welding and Fabrication
Islands Surveying Inc.
Jen-Jay Diving
J-Power Systems, Composite Submarine Cable
Tony Keiser, Consultant
Bill Langworthy, Contractor
Lopez Sand & Gravel
M/V Pintail
Northstar Power Engineering
Orcas Excavators, Inc.
The Orcas Hotel
Orcas Island Freight Lines, Inc.
Orcas Island Eclipse Charters
Paraclete Charter Service
San Juan Ferry and Barge
Underground Specialties, LLC
Westsound Marina
Westsound Video Productions
R.W. Wheaton Company, Inc., Cable Protectors
Wyllie-Echeveria Associates, Sandy and Tina

OPALCO
Member Owned & Operated