Situation:
Iberdrola Energy Projects selected BOND as the civil and utility contractor for the new Salem Harbor Energy Station. This state-of-the-art 674 MW natural gas plant replaces the 65-year-old, decommissioned coal & oil-fired Salem Harbor Generating Station. To prepare for plant construction, BOND helped facilitate the import and delivery of 300,000 tons of backfill material to raise the site and construct a perimeter berm. Our crews installed 2,460 driven piles and 31,400 CY of reinforced concrete to make up the station’s foundation. Lastly, we excavated and installed nearly 30,000 LF of piping and ductbank on the site. The new Salem Harbor Energy Station is one of the most environmentally-advanced plants in the country, incorporating two General Electric 7F 5-series gas turbines that significantly reduce nitric oxide, sulfur dioxide, and mercury emissions for the New England region.
Challenges:
- Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) Permit required for delivery of major materials by water
- Maintenance of an aggressive, 30-month schedule
- Construction occurring under an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Contract, with design progressing concurrently with construction
- Installation of driven piles on a brownfield site with greatly sloping bedrock
- Management of complex site logistics resulting from unique ocean delivery of materials
- Daily coordination of work areas between third party decommissioning and demolition contractor and Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) contractor
Solutions:
- Procurement of gravel materials via ocean vessel to minimize both vehicular traffic around the site and financial impact of delivery restrictions
- Utilization of off-hour concrete deliveries, when possible, to minimize disruption to local traffic
- Construction of a temporary loading dock and platform to allow for roll-on/roll-off deliveries
- Completion of test drills at pile locations to determine pile lengths
Results:
- Plant is the first “Rapid Response” power island in New England, with the capability to add 300 MW of power to the grid within ten minutes
- Addition of new facility to the New England electrical grid produces clean electrical power, avoiding the emission of an average of 450,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year
- New center requires less than one third of the old plant’s land, leaving the remainder for waterfront development