BVIEC taking extreme precautions in carrying generators to Pockwood Pond- roads to be closed & power, telephone & cable services to be interrupted during transporting of generators

ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – In the absence of a deep water harbour in Pockwood Pond, the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) had no alternative but to offload its three new Wartsila generators for the Phase V Power Development Project at Port Purcell.

And to avert any mishaps while transporting the heavy duty equipment to the Pockwood Pond Power Plant, the BVIEC will embark on a significant utilities and traffic shut down during three nights of the new week.

BVIEC’s General Manager Mr Leroy A. E. Abraham, during an exclusive interview with this news site, said that on Sunday August 21, 2016 BVIEC will be transporting the three new 8 MW generators from Port Purcell to Pockwood Pond.

The moves are currently scheduled to take place between 10:00 P.M. and 5:00 A.M. on Sunday August 21, Tuesday August 23, and Thursday August 25, 2016.

The James Walter Francis and Sir Francis Drake highways, between Port Purcell and Pockwood Pond, will therefore be closed between those times and traffic will be diverted to alternate routes. Mr Abraham said there would also be a temporary interruption in power, telephone and cable television services during those periods.

‘Balancing act’

Asked why the generators were not transported and off loaded at the Pockwood Pond area, Mr Abraham said, “We don’t have any dock facilities there so we definitely can’t offload them there…It took approximately an hour and a half to get this process for one of the generators, one weighs approximately 160 tons, so it’s a balancing act between the ship trying to stay level and with the weight, trying to distribute the weight between the ship and the trailer, so we definitely don’t have any port facilities at Pockwood Pond for such a thing.”

The very question BVIEC faced on its Facebook page and it once again explained: “The engines are very large, very heavy pieces of equipment. A deep harbour, and a port with adequate load bearing facilities are necessary but not available at Pockwood Pond. . . Otherwise we would have loved to land them there instead.”

BVIEC also explained that the long closures are required based on the scope of the work. A significant amount of preparatory work will be happening ahead of the engines on those nights, including installation of temporary fly-over bridges, and relocation, disconnection and re-connection of telecom and electric utility cables.

“The road will actually be closed in two sections… Wide area power outages are not expected on the nights of the moves. Pockets of customers along the road from Port Purcell to Pockwood Pond will experience interruptions in service due to the required disconnection of lower hanging utility cables,” BVIEC stated.

 

Reference

BVIEC taking extreme precautions in carrying generators to Pockwood Pond. (2016, Aug 16). Retrieved from VINO: http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/bviec-taking-extreme-precautions-in-carrying-generators-to-pockwood-pond