OREANDA-NEWS. A 5m pounds project which will see customers in Buckinghamshire get a stronger and more resilient electricity supply is nearing its completion, with part of the scheme including the challenge of working safely on powerlines that cross over the M25.

Southern Electric Power Distribution (SEPD) is currently replacing the High Voltage overhead network between Iver and Amersham and, as part of the network crosses what is widely acknowledged as one of the country’s busiest roads, this project came with its own unique set of challenges. So that engineers could work safely and also pose no threat to the traffic below, SEPD needed to install a special safety net across the motorway which is supported by over 150m of scaffolding on each side of the carriageway.

SEPD was granted special permission to temporarily close a section of the motorway for three nights earlier this month to install the netting, and now that all the safety measures are in place, work will shortly begin on installing the replacement lines.

James Rooney, SEPD’s Project Manager explained the benefits of this work: “We want to do everything we can to give our customers the most robust and resilient power supply we can, and so it’s essential that we replace the existing lines with new ones using the latest technologies available. This section over the M25 is one of the last phases of the six month scheme and when the project is finished, we’ll have replaced around 20km of new overhead lines. As you can imagine, a project of this size requires many months of meticulous planning before a spanner even touches a bolt, and installing the new lines over M25 has to rank as one of the most challenging jobs I’ve come across in all my years as an engineer.

“The M25 is known as one of the busiest routes in the UK, and so it was vital that we carried out this part of the project with the minimum amount of disruption to everyone using the road; after careful consultation with the Highways team at the local council, it was decided that the best time to do the work was between 10pm and 5am when the road closure would have the least amount of inconvenience for drivers.”