New Wave Media

 

Quadra Island lies just off the east coast of Vancouver Island and is part of the Discovery Islands, located within the Strathcona Regional District. In January this year, British Columbia Hydro announced plans to invest to increase its supply to the residents of this area, with a series of projects to deliver one of the largest expansions of electrical infrastructure in the province’s history.

 

For the Quadra Island phase of the area upgrade, Aquatic deployed its multi-reel solution and supplied a 120 te modular drive system (AQPR-07-120) with tracks (AQPRTS-02) to drive four 4.5 m diameter reels with 13,120 m of 89 mm diameter custom cable. The scope of work required a lay speed of 900 meters per hour. However, the Aquatic system, allied to ITB’s seamanship, exceeded that by almost a third and successfully laid the cable at a speed of 1,150 meters per hour.

 

The equipment was mobilized from Aquatic’s US base at Morgan City, La. Having a full suite of equipment in North America enabled Aquatic to react swiftly to this project.

 

Martin Charles, managing director, Aquatic, said, “The main benefit of a multi-reel solution is the ability to manage costs and resources. Our multi-reel lay solution allows for the product to be readied onshore in controlled inspection conditions. We were able to carry all four reels on our extendable track system, allowing our teams to lay the power cable without the barge needing to shuttle up and down the Straits of Georgia, between the installation location and the transpooling site. This results in a more efficient use of the vessel and a higher lay rate and time and craneage cost savings.”