A total of 27,000 tons of material – including 5,000 tons of rocks – have been removed from the disused quarry at Westmount to make way for the Jersey Electricity substation.
As part of the preparatory works, which were carried out by Jayen, a new retaining wall has been constructed to protect that facility while the ground has also been prepared to support the building slab.
Specialist French contractors Engie INEO – which was also involved in building the Rue des Prés and Western primary substations and the South Hill Switching Station – will now begin the actual substation build which is expected to take a year.
Mark Vivian, project manager, said: ‘On the mainland, substations of this size would normally be built outdoors. These installations are not overly aesthetically pleasing plus, wind-borne salt contamination is a problem on islands.
‘On a visit to Normandy in 2000, our engineers realised that the French design of St Remy des Landes substation would be the best solution for Jersey and it has been used at Rue des Prés and Western primaries and South Hill. The design uses simple air insulated components integrated into the structure of the building.’
