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Project Scope

Partum Engineering was engaged to provide multidisciplinary design services for the Cloudbreak West and Christmas Creek 220/33kV substations, forming part of Fortescue’s Pilbara Transmission Project. Working closely with Fortescue and based on provided reference documentation, Partum delivered comprehensive architectural, civil/structural, mechanical, and electrical designs for the new GIS substations.

 

Scope highlights included detailed construction drawings for the GIS buildings, substation foundations, fencing, firewalls, drainage, HVAC integration, and mechanical interfaces. Civil and structural responsibilities encompassed trenching, cable ladder systems, surge arrestor and transformer foundations, and integration with vendor-supplied equipment. The electrical design scope covered cable layouts, primary plant interfaces, substation lighting and earthing studies, cable sizing and EMF studies, and coordination of small power, protection, and ancillary services. Partum also produced power system studies, design calculations, NPER-certified documentation, and material take-offs to support tender and construction phases.

 

This project demonstrated Partum’s capability in managing complex brownfield and greenfield substation works, ensuring alignment with Fortescue’s design standards and delivery expectations.

Challenges Overcome

This project presented several complex and evolving challenges throughout the design phase. A major change initiated by the client required a 90° clockwise rotation of the substation layout while concurrently rotating the surface drainage 90° counter-clockwise, impacting 72 drawings. In parallel, a last-minute change from single to twin conductors on the Bonney Downs (BND) line meant additional clearance checks and design modifications across several interfaces, including surge arrestors, intermediate poles, and GIS terminations.

 

Further design complexity emerged when Partum identified that the pad level provided by the client for the CCW site was insufficient for the proposed drainage system. Despite tight constraints around increasing the pad height, Partum was tasked with redesigning the drainage system to function within the available levels.

 

The project was also impacted by delayed vendor data, which created uncertainty and required Partum to proceed with incomplete information during key design stages. All of this was undertaken within a condensed timeline to meet the Issue for Tender deadline.

Solution

Partum Engineering responded proactively and collaboratively to each challenge. The full set of 72 affected drawings was revised to accommodate the substation and drainage rotation, with zero additional cost to the client. For the lines coming from BND, Partum conducted detailed clearance assessments and implemented all necessary design changes—including twin conductor adjustments, pole spacing updates, and GIS tension assemblies—ensuring system integrity and safety.

 

To address the drainage challenge at CCW, Partum developed multiple iterations and carefully reworked all relevant layouts—including foundations, trenching, drainage, and sitewide RL-referenced drawings—to support a low pad level solution that satisfied both hydraulic requirements and client preferences.

 

Despite vendor delays, the team advanced the design using available information and remained agile to resolve emerging issues as data became available. Thanks to this adaptive approach and strong internal coordination, Partum delivered the complete design on time, with no delays to the project schedule.

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