National Grid Substation

Project Summary

Ground investigation work was undertaken inside and immediately adjacent to the 132kv and 400kv substations at Ratcliffe Power Station, Nottinghamshire to determine ground conditions to allow the design and installation of two new super grid transformers. Site staff required NG Person & BESC and NG HSG47 training to operate on-site.

Project Details

Brief description of works

Five boreholes were drilled using a Comacchio MC300 multi-purpose rig. Percussive sampling and rotary coring were used to advance boreholes to a maximum depth of 12.50m in the Mercia Mudstone Group.
Hand-dug trial pits were excavated to obtain soil samples for geo-environmental laboratory testing.
Five slit trenches up to 12m in length and 1.75m depth were excavated using vacuum excavation techniques to positively locate and identify live power cables.
Full site attendance by two engineering geologists to supervise works. Close liaison with Consulting Engineer, Principal Contractor and National Grid site staff was essential for the progression of works.
Logging soils and rocks, geo-environmental sampling, thermal resistivity testing and PID testing were undertaken on-site, with post fieldwork borehole monitoring and a factual report prepared on completion.

Client Comments

“I would definitely consider using CCGI on future Electricity Alliance Central schemes and would recommend they are used by other divisions within Atkins.”
“The site works at Ratcliffe went extremely well.”
“I would just like to add that communication from the outset of works has been excellent and I feel that that is the key to a successful ground investigation. The supervising engineers should be commended on the pro-active approach.”

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