Balpara was engaged by Powercor to examine six regional Victorian substations as part of the Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiter program (REFCL). This included feature survey, LiDAR scanning, GPR, geotechnical investigations and soil testing and analysis for targeted regional zone substations.

Project Overview

As part of the Victorian Government’s program to reduce powerline-related bushfires, the REFCL program has been established to operate like large, strategically positioned safety switches in targeted areas of Victoria’s electricity network, reducing the risk of fires starting from powerline faults.

Balpara's team was required to provide a range of services to this project. Our use of the latest technology allowed us to offer exceptionally accurate 3D laser scanning data, while the use of GPR saw us able to provide accurate asset location services. The client also required soil testing, soil contamination analysis and geotechnical services, which Balpara completed to ensure the site was fit for use.

Project Scope

• Identifying existing permanent marks and benchmarks and confirming location and levels of each to tie in our substation feature surveys to established survey grid.
• Identifying spot heights at appropriate intervals to accurately define topographical contours of the terrain, as well as surveying existing drains, service trenches, exposed services and underground services detection marks.
• Creating detailed feature survey drawings including benchmarks, structures, and underground services.
• Imagery and geo-referenced terrestrial LiDAR capture for RGB colourised point cloud.
• Geotechnical field investigation together with a comprehensive report including geological maps, survey data and aerial imagery describing site and constraints.

Value Add

Balpara successfully delivered a range of services on site to optimise productivity while the substation was accessible in a very specific window of time. Our 3D modelling and surveying team created a solution best suited to our client, using a combination of traditional and cutting edge modern site capture techniques to produce the best outcome tailored to our client.

Relevant Accreditation/Quality Standards

• Survey was performed in accordance with the Survey Practice Handbook Victoria, all relevant regulations including electrical industry ‘Entering high voltage enclosure’ training, and all points of detail were recorded to conform with Classification AA.