Eliminating hurricane-induced storm surge damage to electric utilities via in-place elevation of substation structures and equipment

When coastal communities suffer the consequences of multiple “hundred year” tropical storms within the span of just a few years, electric utilities must take action to increase the resistive strength of their system´s operating assets to the destructive forces of these storms. This paper will describe a cost-effective storm hardening technique — elevating in place an existing high profile distribution substation — that has been employed to mitigate damage caused by hurricane-induced storm surge flood waters to existing electric power transmission and distribution substation equipment, all while avoiding disruption of power to the communities serviced by the utility. This paper will examine (1) the process by which the structural engineering and technical obstacles were identified at the onset of the project and (2) how the details of these challenges were overcome in a collaborative team approach involving the electric utility and two specialty contractors. Finally, this paper will examine (3) the results of the in-place substation elevation approach compared to the stated objectives of the project.