Riverside Resource Recovery Panels Installation

Customer: ABB Switzerland Ltd

Site Owner: Cory Environmental

Value: £300k

The project scope included taking delivery of and installing the following Low Voltage MCC Switchgear for ABB Switzerland Ltd, Division Automation Technologies:

  • Common 1 MCC 13.7 Tonnes
  • Common 2 MCC 7.5 tonnes
  • Emergency MCC 1 1.2 Tonnes
  • Emergency MCC 2 1.2 Tonnes
  • Line 1 MCC 6.1 Tonnes
  • Line 2 MCC 6.1 Tonnes
  • Line 3 MCC 6.1 Tonnes
  • 9 No. Air Fan VSDs 0.8 Tonnes
  • 9 No. Cooling Fan VSDs 0.75 Tonnes

Each Switchgear was delivered in sections to be raised on to support frames, levelled and bolted together prior to testing, the support frames were designed and installed by FSD. In detail:

  • Receive Delivery of and Offload Panels – Liaise with ABB for the delivery dates and co-ordinate access dates with HZI for the offloading and storage at site prior to lifting activities for installation into switch rooms. Offloading included the inspection of packaging to ensure no damage had taken place during transit. Delivery, offload and crane activities were critical as there were continual lifting of mechanical equipment throughout the day on site and use and space for cranes was at a premium.
  • Lifts to Switch Rooms – There were two switch rooms, one at 7.8m level and the other at 12.2m level, installation into each of the rooms had to done separately as scaffold platforms had to be built to receive the panels for access into each of the rooms, the delivery of the panels had to be staggered to enable the completion of one set of panels before the next set was delivered. Consideration was also given to the installers of the building services panels which were not in the FSD scope.
  • Switchgear support frames – Design, fabrication and installation of galvanised steel frames to raise the height of the Switchgear to the level of the false floor approximately 1200mm from the ground to allow cable access under the Switchgear.
  • Installation of Switchgear – Manoeuvre Switchgear sections into the switch rooms from the landing scaffold platforms and raising them onto the support frames using specialist equipment. The sections were then levelled and bolted together to allow the connection of the bus bars to take place.
  • Inspections – As each section was unpacked in the switch rooms they were inspected as part of the QA Procedures before being lifted into place.
  • Connection of sections – Each section of the Switchgear was interconnected via control wiring and the main bus bars which was carried out by FSD and ABB.
  • Design and Install the bus duct which connected together Common 1 and Common 2 Switchgear, power supply cabling between the various Switchgear and the VSD panels, and UPS cabling between all Switchgear and the UPS Switch Room on the 20m level including the cable containment. Installation of all cabling between UPS panels in the UPS switch room.

Challenges:

  • Transportation arrivals were not always on time due to coming from Switzerland in mid winter which resulted in co-ordination problems with cranes and lifting times.
  • Storage facilities on site for large loads was at a premium.
  • Site transportation was via tele-handler across unstable ground.
  • Loading platforms outside switch rooms were being used by too many subcontractors.
  • There was no inbuilt lifting facilities within the switch rooms for raising the Switchgear on to the support frames and insufficient space within the rooms to manoeuvre specialist equipment.
  • VSD panels had to be off loaded in the car park as there was no space on site.