New England East-West Solution project complete
POWER Engineers, Inc., recently announced that the New England East-West Solution (NEEWS), a $750 million electric transmission project on which it worked with National Grid, is complete following 10 years of planning, design and construction.
The NEEWS project was the largest electric improvement project to the New England grid in many years. The most recent leg of the project, the Interstate Reliability Project (IRP), was recently completed by National Grid with the help of POWER Engineers, and will bring more affordable electricity to southern New Englanders.
“The Interstate Reliability Project was completed without disrupting power to one of the most densely populated areas of the country,” Andy Alexiades, a POWER program manager from Boston, said. “Together, the NEEWS projects strengthen the reliability of the electric grid in New England and help assure that the power is there when it is needed.”
The IRP project cost approximately $265 million, and was for the installation of 40 miles of new 345 kV transmission lines in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The project included upgrades to several substations, and the replacement of structures and conductors along nine miles of older 345 kV transmission lines. During the project, servicemen reinforced more than 200 concrete drilled shafts and used approximately 30,000 temporary swamp mats.
The project was also in compliance with environmental and energy regulations, and was monitored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as other state and local agencies.
