Temporary Works
Strengthening Culverts for Transformer Transport
The Project
United Rentals delivered a full supply, installation, and dismantling solution to strengthen road culverts at a power station, allowing large transformers to be transported into the site.
Summary
An energy infrastructure provider needed to replace large transformers at a power station, but the access road crossed a river using culverts that could not support the required transport load.
Working to an externally developed engineering design, United Rentals supplied and installed a vertical and horizontal Shore 400 Modular Prop system to temporarily strengthen the culverts. The solution was coordinated around environmental requirements and changing project timelines, allowing the transformer works to proceed as planned.
Challenge
The main challenges with this project were that the culverts supporting the access road could not carry the anticipated weight of the transformer without additional support, and an endangered bat species was living within them.
Before the propping system could be installed, the bats needed to be carefully relocated and measures put in place to prevent them from returning until the transformer works and dismantling were complete. These environmental requirements then had to be carefully coordinated with the site preparation, equipment delivery, traffic management, and installation within a narrow project window.
Solution
Following a site inspection, United Rentals coordinated with the customer, environmental specialists, and other contractors to prepare the site and plan the works. Before installation began, the bats were carefully relocated, the roosting openings were sealed, and black tarpaulins were installed across the culvert entrances and exits to help prevent their return.
We supplied and installed a vertical and horizontal Shore 400 Modular Propping system to provide the additional support required beneath the access road.
The full supply-and-install service covered equipment coordination, delivery, installation, and dismantling. Delivery was scheduled to limit traffic management to no more than four hours, and when the transformer replacement timeline changed, our team adjusted its program to keep the supporting works aligned with the wider project.
Careful planning, professional installation and end-to-end coordination enabled the culverts to be successfully reinforced, allowing the transformers to be transported into the power station on schedule while maintaining the environmental controls established for the bats and delivering a positive outcome for the customer.
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