Two initiatives still making headway are the Peerless Road distribution line rebuild which was stalled last year by the April 27 tornadoes, as well as the engineering work required to complete the LED lighting design for the newest section of the Cleveland/Bradley Greenway.
CU engineers have completed the LED lighting design and the fixtures are scheduled to be delivered by April 5, Borden reported at a recent appearance before the Cleveland Board of Public Utilities. Underground conduits have been installed along the Greenway from Mouse Creek Road North to Paul Huff Parkway.
“We are waiting on the city’s contractor to grade sections south of Mouse Creek Road in the Tinsley Park area before the remaining conduit can be installed,” Borden noted. This work has been delayed this winter due to heavy rainfall.
The Cleveland Board of Public Utilities recently approved a purchase order with WESCO in the amount of $53,959 for 50 Holophane LED Lighting fixtures that will be used on the Greenway project. Borden said this phase stretches from the new pedestrian bridge at Tinsley Park going north to Mohawk Drive behind The Home Depot.
Of the Peerless Road project which has been on hold to allow electric crews to concentrate on storm recovery and because some of the initiative’s intended materials were diverted to storm-related equipment repair, Borden said the project is more than halfway completed.
“Crews are working to move transformers, services and tap lines over to the new conductors,” he said. “Work is progressing well.”
Borden praised the work of Electric Division personnel.
“Our crews are performing at a very high level and maintaining a safe work environment,” he stressed. “A great deal of planning goes into each step performed prior to execution of the job. We rely on a highly trained and skilled staff to perform this work and it takes years to develop their skills.”
One of the project’s biggest obstacles is logistics related to heavy daily traffic volume on Peerless Road, he said.
CU’s latest diversion came with the EF-2 tornado that tore through sections of Bradley County from the southwest to the northeast corners on March 2; however, power outages within the utility’s service area were fully restored by the next day, except for any homes whose damage was too severe to accommodate electrical hookup.
Borden was scheduled to update members of the Cleveland Board of Public Utilities on a variety of Electric Division projects in a formal monthly session scheduled late today.
