Consultation on this project began in May 2022, and several options were considered, including refurbishing the existing towers, replacing the towers with monopoles, installing a cable underneath the river, and installing a cable river on either the City Bridge or Cobham Bridge.
“None of those options were found to be feasible due to a number of factors including environmental impact, including on Te Awa Tupua, earthquake and flooding risk, and cost for customers.”
While City Bridge was used previously to run cables through as opposed to running them over the river, Frew said the bridge had no more capacity for cabling, with Cobham Bridge also not an option.
“The cost of remedial work required for the Cobham Bridge abutments to ensure the cabling was secured into the future was too great of a cost.
“As a result, it was determined that a like-for-like replacement of the towers was the best option,” she said.
The two towers will be replaced like-for-like, with the lines they carry also planned to be upgraded at the same time.
Omexom will carry out the work which is planned to take place between November and February next year.
In November, crews will build new concrete foundations for the towers which is expected to take a few weeks to complete but could be weather-dependent.
Both towers will be built at the Bullocks yard in December before one is transported to Takarangi St.
Across January and February, both old towers will be demolished with the new ones installed on new foundations and new wires installed by using cranes on either side of the river.
An H-shaped pole between 11 and 13 Takarangi St will also be demolished and a new one installed.
As part of the project, Powerco will also work with the local community on beautification and planting projects at the Takarangi St site as well as educational outreach with Putiki tamariki.
In order to keep residents and crews safe during the work at the two sites, a number of safety measures will be put in place.
On Taupō Quay, stop-go staff will be in place on the walkway while the lines are installed to direct pedestrians and cyclists.
For Takarangi St, fencing will be installed around the replacement site.
There will be one outage in the Putiki area in December, and the people who will be affected will receive a notification in advance from retailers.
Closer to the time of the outage, residents in the suburb can check if an outage is planned for their address via the “Planned Outage” page on their website.
A temporary road closure will also be in place when the H-shaped pole is replaced, with vehicle and pedestrian access around the closed-off area.
Frew said further resiliency projects are planned.
“Plans and consultation are under way to upgrade the power line capacity between Transpower’s Brunswick grid exit point and Powerco’s Roberts Ave substation,” she said.
In recent years the company have worked on a number of projects to secure the city’s electricity network, including installing almost 8km of underground cable across the city, and building a new elevated high-voltage switchroom on Peat St to safeguard it against future floods.
Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.
