Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has installed almost 73 miles of underground cabling for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, located in the North East of England, which will be capable of powering six million UK homes annually on completion.

The award-winning firm is delivering the onshore high voltage direct current (HVDC) cabling, which weighs 3,500 tonnes, to help connect the first two phases of the project, Dogger Bank A and B, to the national grid over a 20-mile route.

The Dogger Bank project is the first offshore wind farm in the UK to use HVDC technology, which allows electricity to be transmitted efficiently across long distances.

The firm has completed the HVDC cabling in East Riding of Yorkshire with the support of Bristol-based Power Systems UK and cable installation specialists F B Taylor.

The team will now focus on the installation of around four miles of high voltage alternative current (HVAC) cable from the converter station to the Creyke Beck electricity substation, which connects Yorkshire to the national grid.

Jones Bros project manager James Lockwood said: “Hitting this key milestone on the world’s largest offshore wind farm has been made possible thanks to the efforts of every individual on site.

“I know it brings everyone from senior managers to trainees and apprentices a great sense of pride to be associated with this project, and we’re excited to see how the rest of the scheme develops.”

During the scheme, the company has reached 500,000 hours without recording a single lost time incident (LTI), meaning no employee sustained an injury leading to a loss of productive work time, or became unable to perform regular duties.

Onshore project manager for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, Oliver Flattery, said: “The whole team has worked incredibly hard and diligently since the start of 2020 to safely and efficiently prepare the 30km route, through a combination of trenching and drilling methods, before installing protective ducts and then feeding 3,362 tonnes of underground cables through these ducts.

“This has been a huge undertaking, and one we’re all proud to have been part of.”

The project is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40 per cent), Equinor (40 per cent) and Eni Plenitude (20 per cent).

Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which is being built more than 130km off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea, is currently being developed in three 1.2GW phases: Dogger Bank A, B and C.

Jones Bros previously completed the enabling works for the construction of the onshore converter station platforms for Sofia Offshore Wind Farm and Dogger Bank C, as part of the third phase of the scheme.

Established in the 1950s, Jones Bros owns one of the largest plant fleets in the UK and employs approximately 500 people.

The company is currently working on contracts in various sectors including highways, flood and marine defence, waste management and renewable energy around the UK.

The company runs an award-winning apprenticeship scheme, which has produced nearly 50 per cent of its current workforce, with many of its senior managers having started out as apprentices or in a trainee role.

It has recruited more than 100 apprentices during the past three years.

For further info on this, please click here North Wales firm goes the distance for world’s largest offshore wind farm.

Works Included

• Demolition of railway bridge abutments on public highway to improve site entrance visibility.
• Design and construction of site access tracks and crane platforms.
• Construction of reinforced concrete turbine foundations.
• Construction of control building.
• Installation of HV and communications cables
• Supervision of delivery and erection of turbines
• Landscaping and reinstatement

For further info on this, please click here M1 Road Wind Farm infrastructure, Northampton.

Works included:

• Design and construction of site access tracks and crane hard standings using locally sourced materials (cement stabilised)
• Construction of marine unloading platform
• Improvements to the public highway
• Construction of piled reinforced concrete turbine foundations
• Construction of control building
• 6km of HV cable installation
• Electrical design and installation
• Supervision of delivery and erection of turbines
• Landscaping and reinstatement

For further info on this, please click here Middlewick Windfarm Infrastructure, Essex.

• Construction of 33 concrete turbine and crane pad foundations – completed on time, despite 3 months of winter weather delays
• Construction of 6km floating road site access track and 10km of formed access track utilizing stone from 3 on site borrow pits
• Concrete supplied from Jones Bros owned/operated on-site batching plant
• Installation of 7km of off site cabling through difficult terrain and passing through a steep ravine section. All completed safely, and resulted in savings, both in time and cost, to the client
• Construction of substation building incorporating an operations building and workshop building housed within a compound area
• Electrical installation managed by Jones Bros and 22km of on-site cable trenching completed by Jones Bros teams
• Maintenance of 13km of site access track
• Landscaping and reinstatement of all site tracks

For further info on this, please click here Midhill Windfarm infrastructure.

The 4,600 hectare site is located on the A4061 Rhigos Road near Treherbert in the South Wales valleys.

Works included:

• Design and construction/upgrade 80km site access tracks.
• Construction of new S278 highway entrance
• Engineered upfill works to all turbine foundations.
• Construction of 76 concrete turbine and crane pad foundations – using 6000tonnes of locally sourced steel reinforcement and 50,000m³ concrete produced by our own on-site batching plant.
• 8 borrow pits on site – 750,000t of processed aggregate for on-site tracks
• 120km of cable trenching
• Electrical design and installation
• Landscaping and reinstatement

For further info on this, please click here Pen y Cymoedd Windfarm infrastructure, South Wales.

Work included:

Decommissioning of eleven existing turbines that formed one of the UK’s first commercial wind farms over 20 years ago, and replacing them with five higher specification new turbines.

This required the construction of associated reinforced concrete bases, crane pads and duct installations for each new turbine and the construction of stone access tracks to allow access for turbine delivery, erection and future maintenance.

These construction activities were carried out in a very sensitive environment, requiring Jones Bros to work closely on a daily basis with the client’s environmental consultant, to ensure bat roosts, areas of SSSI and protected hedge rows were unaffected by the works.

For further info on this, please click here St Breock Wind Farm.

Major activities included:

• Design and construction of site access tracks including gas pipeline protection works
• Engineered upfill works to all turbine foundations
• Construction of concrete turbine and crane pad foundations using locally sourced steel and concrete
• Construction of a substation building
• Construction of two new Section 278 highway entrances
• 6km of cable trenching
• Electrical infrastructure design and installation by our specialist partner
• Permanent met mast installation
• All landscaping and reinstatement work

For further info on this, please click here Swinford Wind Farm.

Major activities included:

• Design and construction of 7km of site access tracks
• Construction of concrete turbine and crane pad foundations using locally sourced steel and concrete (all turbine bases pile driven)
• Construction of substation building using local labour
• 5.5km of on-site cable trenching and cable laying
• Construction of new Section 278 approved site entrance off public highway
• Construction of a new steel and timber deck bridge to enable crossing of near drain
• Design and construction of on-site drainage to comply with drainage board and landowner requirements
• Electrical installation by specialist subcontractor
• Landscaping and reinstatement of all site tracks and crane pads

For further info on this, please click here Sixpenny Wood Wind Farm.

Major activities included:

• Construction of 4.5km access tracks using site won stone from onsite borrow pit
• Construction of 11 concrete turbine foundations and crane pads
• Construction of substation building
• 4km of cable trenching and installation of cable
• 2km of off-site grid cable laying and connection at point of connection
• Temporary propping of railway bridge located on the access track, carried out by specialist contractor to enable safe turbine deliveries
• Maintenance of 4.5km of existing access track to enable site deliveries
• Temporary diversion of bridleway and footpath in line with local authority requirements
• Electrical infrastructure installation by specialist partner.
• Landscaping and reinstatement work

For further info on this, please click here Mynydd Portref Wind Farm.

The site is located approximately 5.5km north of Beverley, near Hull.

Major activities included:

• Design and construction of 6.5km of site access tracks
• Construction of 12 concrete turbine bases, each on 350mm square driven piles
• Construction of 12 crane pads measuring 45m x 30m
• Construction of substation and control building
• 7km of on-site cable trenching/laying
• 4.5km of off-site cable trenching along s public highway to the point of connection
• Design and construction of 16m span steel bridge with timber decking to cross Holderness drain
• Electrical infrastructure installation by specialist partner
• Landscaping and reinstatement work

For further info on this, please click here Hall Farm Wind Farm.