Award of Merit: Safety: Bonneville Power Administration Quenett Creek Substation

Bonneville Power Administration Quenett Creek Substation
The Dalles, Ore.
Award of Merit

Owner: Bonneville Power Administration
Lead Design Firm & General Contractor: Burns & McDonnell
Subcontractors: Henkels & McCoy Inc.; Cougar Construction

The Quenett Creek Substation is a 230-kV greenfield facility built to supply increased electricity to the growing rural communities near the Oregon-Washington border.

But the site, set on basalt-type rock, contained culturally significant elements within the project’s footprint, so the team barricaded the sensitive areas and modified the project’s design to avoid or relocate those materials. The project team worked closely with a local tribal community that verified the respectful handling of important cultural items.

With the added challenges of extreme weather conditions and heavy steel erection, the team developed a site-specific safety and health plan that placed a dedicated safety professional on site during all construction activities.

All personnel accessing the site were provided a site-specific orientation and were required to review a daily pretask analysis that detailed hazard recognition, hazard prevention and personal protective equipment. The team’s safety plan, behavior-based observation program and diligence resulted in zero recordable incidents.