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Strategic improvement of highway powerline crossings results in safety & efficiency

CLIENT:

SaskPower

LOCATION:

Various, SK

ROLE:

Project Sponsor

PROJECT YEAR:

2023

The Problem

“What should we do with all the power lines that cross highways and interfere with oversized tall loads?” At first, this seems like a straightforward problem with a simple solution: “Bury everything underneath the highway!” However, a more strategic examination of the issue reveals several complex questions:

  • What height is adequate for most, if not all, oversized loads to pass under?
  • Can the oversized load be rerouted? If so, does the new route also have challenges?
  • Does the route have an obstacle, such as a 5.0m overpass, that renders any increase in power line height a waste of money?
  • Which overhead line crossings need to be lifted or cut most frequently for oversized loads?
  • Can the power line be salvaged? Can power be supplied from a line on the same side of the road as the customers?
  • Is the root cause of the oversized moves likely to change? For example, grain bins commonly require line lifts when traveling from the shop to the customer’s farm. What happens if the shop relocates?
  • Are today’s solutions tomorrow’s problems? Will raising the height or burying the power line cause safety or reliability issues?

The Solution

In August 2023, I spearheaded the effort to find a solution by better utilizing the data we already had. Our results showed that spending the budget in strategic locations would have a bigger impact. We could provide a better experience for motorists, increase safety for everyone, and reduce the ~6,500 hours per year that SaskPower staff spent on high load moves. After 4 short months our deliverables included:

  • Scope definition for a ~$1M investment to improve 28 of the most frequently lifted line crossings.
  • Refining the scope handoff from initiation to execution phase giving designers clearer goals, so they could apply their expertise to the big picture more effectively.
  • Adjustments to the existing PowerBI tool to graph the Pareto distribution of the busiest geographic areas.
  • Conversations with local staff from the busiest areas to validate our PowerBI findings.
  • Development of a temporary GIS tool to replace the paper maps used by the high load coordinators.
  • Consultation with a GIS expert to develop an advanced tool for high load coordinators, which would also provide Distribution Planning with annual data on the routes that require the most O&M labor.

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