Another fortnight post unfortunately, sorry. Life has become busy since June 13th when we had our 3rd major earthquake. Classed as an aftershock of the Mag 7.1 quake of September 4 2010, this was a Mag 6.3 quake which struck at 2:20pm on June 13th. More damage and liquefaction occurred, and was violent where I was working with my Line crew in Akaroa. I will cover this quake in depth later.
Work log:
Tuesday 7th June:
Connect 11kV cables into kiosk for 4x 1MW emergency generators, QEII park.
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| The 4x 1MW diesel generators, QEII park |
Wednesday 8th June:
Connect 11kV cables from 4x 1MW generators into 11kV network, QEII park.
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| 'Tapped into' 11kV cable, QEII park generator supply. |
Thursday 9th June:
Underground-overhead 33kV transition terminations, outside Prebbleton substation.
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| Me doing 33kV termination, Jeff on right. |
Friday 10th June:
Underground-overhead transition terminations, outside Prebbleton substation.
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| The overhead guys connect the 33kV terminations from the underground cables to the overhead lines. |
Monday 13th June:
11kV overhead circuit breaker oil replacement live line and M6.3 aftershock.
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| Oil replacement in overhead circuit breaker |
Tuesday 14th June:
Post-quake network assessment before repair start.
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| One of the underground Managers digging silt out of New Brighton substation (again) |
Wednesday 15th June:
Re-energize domestic dwelling in Sumner after boulder destroyed pole, replace pole Lyttelton after quake caused wall to collapse and destabilize pole.
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| Me in front of the boulder that landed on a power pole. The boulder won.. |
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| The pole under the boulder. The cliff behind shows where the boulder came from. |
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| Replacement pole being installed in Lyttelton. The bucket is holding the lines up temporarily. |
Thursday 16th June:
Replace pole, Ripon St, Lyttelton after collapsing wall destabilized pole.
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| Unstable pole due to quake-related wall collapse in Ripon St, Lyttelton. |
Friday 17th June:
Multiple jobs: Straighten pole Breezes Rd and reterminate conductors, straighten pole and reterminate conductors, Burwood, reenergize dairy, South Brighton, replace broken crossarm Waltham Rd, disconnect link pole Redcliffs.
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| Broken crossarm due to falling bricks, Waltham Rd |
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| Broken crossarm |
Analysis: Cable Jointer and Line Mechanic procedures
Due to the electrical industry in general being highly regulated, all trades within the sector have regulations and procedures all with one overarching purpose in mind: SAFETY.
Electricity can be lethal, as can falling, cutting, burning, crushing, and a host of other hazards. But with correct procedure and accurate following of that procedure, safety can be well maintained.
Connetics follow a strict procedure of using safety sheets in conjunction with job permits. All employees (and observers) must read this hazard sheet and sign it to state they are aware of the hazards and will comply with the site hazard rules. There are also job sign on/sign off sheets as well. It is not unusual to sign several safety sheets for a job, one for the job permit holder and another for the Site Traffic Management Supervisor (STMS).
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| One side of a hazard sheet. It has been blurred to protect privacy and copyright. |
All Connetics vehicles carry an on-board safety folder which pack the latest safety regulations (the SM-EI manual is one), and lists safety procedures for Connetics staff and Orion contractors.
Lines vehicles carry several documents; examples include (see below):
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| The Orion Standard Construction Drawing Set <(c) Orion>. This contains instruction as to how poles and structures shall be constructed for the Christchurch and Canterbury region. |
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| And the Connetics Live Line Procedure Manual <(c) Connetics> . This contains in-house instructions of procedure that must be followed when doing live line work. |
Cable jointers also have such a comprehensive set of procedural rules, called the 'Underground Manual', which must be adhered to. Each jointing kit also has comprehensive instructions inside that describe how to safely and correctly complete a cable joint.
Accuracy in both jobs is crucial. Faults and mistakes can be very costly and dangerous. The ability to follow written instruction and procedure is critical in the supply industry, and unfortunately, students must develop skills in literacy to be able to perform jobs successfully and safely.
Sorry for such a short post, I'm developing a post about damage to power networks next, which should be very interesting. As always, questions and comments are welcome.
A wee link here showing how digital media can be used successfully for assignments:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5160793/Students-give-YouTube-assignment-an-A-pass
Comments
great summary of the work accomplished over the week. The post-quake photos make them unique and topical for students- to see how electrical supply still needs to continue despite adverse conditions and uncooperative natural forces.
Good link to the NZ stuff site. I am not sure if using a video was actually entirely valid for assessing students' understanding of economics principles! However, in our context, trades subjects are much more suited to the use of 'digital stories' and using video to detail processes.
Looking forward to your post on the after effects of the June 13th event. Trust all OK and your home has recieved an appropriate colour code :)
All the best, Selena