PROJECT

BRT Urban Underground Distribution

Our team provided engineer-procure-construct (EPC) services to Duquesne Light Company for its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Distribution project, which is supporting Pittsburgh’s major urban renewal initiative by upgrading critical electrical infrastructure to meet growing ratepayer needs.

The BRT Distribution project included the EPC delivery of new duct bank and manhole systems on a route from downtown Pittsburgh to the future DLC Watson Substation. The project also involved the underground distribution cable design for circuits ranging from 600 V to 23-kV. Over 51,000 circuit feet of new cable was installed, and existing cables are being replaced with new cable.

Underground Challenges

The cable design for the project was complex because of the interconnection of new cable to adjacent circuits. Many circuits branched multiple times, making it key to account for those locations. Additionally, connecting new ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) cable to the existing paper insulated lead-covered (PILC) cable required special consideration.

Working in congested urban roadways presents unique challenges. Our team coordinated outages for manhole rebuilds and cable cutover locations. Dozens of existing brick manholes were demolished and rebuilt larger in place to accommodate the new cables. This required careful coordination between engineering and the construction teams, with safety always the foremost priority. Because many outages were required, we conducted weekly status calls, maintained detailed outage planning trackers, and managed each requested outage proactively.

Client

Duquesne Light Company

Location

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Region

Mid-Atlantic

Services

Electrical Transmission & Distribution

Electrical Distribution

Underground Distribution

Construction

Industry

Power

Case Study

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Complex Team Effort

This project called on a large and diverse set of team resources. Planning and design required extensive collection of data regarding existing conditions, including utility information coordination, subsurface utility engineering investigations and field manhole inspections. The ever-evolving commercial market created challenges for the procurement team, which successfully procured materials in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Working in busy public roads required extensive maintenance of traffic (MOT) plans and heavy coordination with the municipality and other utilities in the same right-of-way.

Safety by Design

Safety remained the top focus through the construction phase, addressing the specific risks of the project by identifying team members equipped to properly manage and mitigate those risks. Local subcontractors were evaluated for their ability to execute the work safely. The congested environment required careful coordination with other utilities, both through the Pennsylvania OneCall system and direct on-site contacts. On-site, our permitting, coordination and traffic management teams brought all stakeholders together to manage ever-changing conditions, allowing the work to continue while mitigating traffic and utility coordination issues. Excavating in an urban street environment with inaccurate or nonexistent subsurface records presented an additional safety, design and construction challenge.