A 47-year-old transmission line underwent a much-needed makeover, with several works completed on towers located in Wishart and several other suburbs.
The $3.8-million transmission line upgrade project undertaken by Powerlink involved the replacement of 1,225 insulators and steelwork on 105 towers in Wishart, Eight Mile Plains, and Runcorn.
Built in 1972, the transmission line between Belmont and Bundamba substations runs through Eight Mile Plains, Wishart, Runcorn, Drewvale, Goodna and Collingwood Park, and also near the Gateway Motorway, Beaudesert Road, Logan Motorway, Cunningham Highway and Ipswich Motorway.
Member for Mansfield Corrine McMillan said that the 37-kilometre-long line plays a critical role in securing power supply for both Brisbane and Ipswich and that the project ensured the “transmission line will continue to operate safe and reliably for its remaining 40-year service life.”
“This type of work also demonstrated Powerlink’s ability to deliver complex engineering work in densely populated urban areas,” Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said.
She added that the project, which took about three months to complete and supported nine jobs, required “intricate traffic management planning to ensure activities were completed safely, efficiently and with minimal impacts in the surrounding area.”
Mr Lynham thanked the landholders, local communities and motorists for their patience whilst the project was underway.
More than $2.2 billion on capital works in 2019-20, supporting up to 4,900 jobs, will be invested by Queensland’s publicly-owned electricity companies including Powerlink, Ergon, Energex, CS Energy, Stanwell Corp, and CleanCo.
About Powerlink
Powerlink is Australia’s leading provider of high voltage electricity transmission network services, A State Government Owned Corporation, Powerlink owns, operates, and maintains the 1,700km transmission network extending from north of Cairns to the New South Wales border.
The transmission network comprises 15,337 circuit kilometres of transmission lines and 140 substations. Powerlink transports high voltage electricity, generated at major power stations, to distribution networks owned by Energex, Ergon Energy and Essential Energy (in northern NSW).
Powerlink also transport electricity to industrial customers including rail companies, mines and mineral processing facilities, and to NSW through the Queensland/NSW Interconnector transmission line.