Gulf Power Phase 3 - Florida

Jul 1

Power | Foundations | Transmission | Florida

Project Summary

The North Florida Resiliency Connection is a new build of a 161kV line spanning 176 miles from Chattahoochee to Lake City in Florida. It is made up of more than 2,000 new poles that are up to 145’ long and weigh more than 100,000 pounds – 50 tons.

Aldridge was called to take on the challenge of this difficult project. The size and weight of these poles, along with the steep terrain, demanded specialized equipment and operators: two 250-ton hydraulic tracked cranes, multiple side-boom dozers, tracked concrete mixers, and tracked dump trucks. Not only was the terrain steep, but the ROW was narrow, consisting of manmade bridges crossing up to 80’ stretches of water nearly 10’ deep.

Many precautions had to be taken to continue construction, and conditions had to be ideal. When it rained (there were 19 weather days – one day 11” fell) the clay surface would be too slick to operate safely, and operations were shut down. In addition, there were limited concrete suppliers in the area with many contractors already working on the new line. Precise planning and scheduling were the main keys to our success.

In spite of the daily challenges, the Aldridge team completed the project incident and injury free.

Project Highlights: