Artarmon to Mosman cable project

Ausgrid’s Mosman zone substation is currently supplied by one 132, 000 Volt cable from the Willoughby substation, and a further two 132, 000 Volt cables from the Castle Cove zone substation in Chatswood.

These cables are more than 45 years old and are now approaching the end of their service life. They have been subject to failures in recent years and need to be replaced to maintain a safe and reliable power supply to customers.

In addition, Ausgrid is in the process of retiring all cables of this type from its network.

Construction work to install the new cable is now complete. This involved trenching in streets between our substations in Campbell Street, Artarmon and Harbour Street, Mosman.

Permanent restoration of the impacted areas of roads will be done in the coming months, in consultation with the relevant councils.

Work to retire the existing 132,000 volt cables will begin in 2020.

Ausgrid will keep residents, businesses and other stakeholders updated as the project progresses.

Ausgrid is responsible for assessing and approving works for the Artarmon to Mosman cable project. This process included preparing an environmental assessment (Review of Environmental Factors or REF). The REF includes a range of specialist studies and input from the community, councils and other authorities. The REF was on exhibition for comment from Friday 7 September 2018 to Friday 28 September 2018. Ausgrid considered all submissions as part of the process of assessing the project for construction approval.

Construction for the project is now complete. The final REF can be viewed in the 'Review of Environmental Factors' section below.

Artarmon to Mosman Cable Project Review of Environmental Factors (REF) Report

Appendices 

Appendix A - Drawings and Plans

Appendix B - Consultation Documentation

Appendix C - Magnetic Field Assessment

Appendix D - Construction Noise and Vibration Management Plan

Appendix E - Qualitative Noise Assessment

Appendix F - Geotechnical Investigation

Appendix G - Arboricultural Impact Assessment

Appendix H - Heritage Impact Assessment

REF Determination Report

This project involved installing a new 132,000 Volt cable in roads between our Willoughby substation in Campbell Street, Artarmon and our Mosman substation in Harbour Street, Mosman. 

As with any construction work, there was some noise and dust, and temporary traffic, access and parking disruptions, but we made every effort to keep these to a minimum. View an information graphic showing the different stages of cable laying.

Work to install the new cables included:

• digging trenches in roads to lay conduits (plastic pipes) to accommodate the new cables
• backfilling trenches and temporary resurfacing of impacted areas (trenching and temporary resurfacing takes about three days outside each property depending on ground and weather conditions)
• excavating underground joint bays at various locations along the cable route
• feeding in and joining sections of cable at the joint bay locations permanently restoring impacted areas, in consultation with the relevant Council once the overall project is complete.

Work to retire the existing 132,000 Volt cables will involve:

• Excavating existing joint bays along the cable route
• Removing cable equipment
• Disconnecting the cables.

Work to restore the areas of the roadway impacted by construction is done in stages:

• Temporary restoration – refilling and temporarily resurfacing excavated sections as construction progresses along each street.
• Permanent restoration – excavating the temporary surface and replacing it with the permanent one, once all construction is complete.

The temporary restoration work is complete. The permanent resurfacing of the impacted areas of the roadway will be done in the coming months, in consultation with the relevant councils.

Ausgrid started engaging with key stakeholders, such as North Sydney Council, Mosman Council, Willoughby Council and Royal North Shore Hospital, in late 2017 to obtain feedback on the replacement cable route.

Engagement with residents and businesses along and around the replacement cable route started in March 2018 when the first project newsletter was distributed. A copy of the newsletter can be found at the bottom of this page.

On 27 March and 12 April 2018, Ausgrid held two community information sessions at the Cammeray Golf Club and The College of Law in St Leonards to seek local information and community feedback on the replacement cable route. Interested community members were invited to attend the sessions directly through the newsletter, an advertisement in local newspapers and social media.

At the sessions, members of the project team gave a short presentation on why the project is needed and what to expect during construction.

In September 2018, another community information session was held and community feedback on the REF was sought. Once again, this session was advertised in local newspapers and a project newsletter was distributed to over 12,000 residents and businesses along and near the preferred cable route.

Ausgrid took the feedback received from the community and key stakeholders into consideration in finalising the project. We received a total of 10 submissions during the REF exhibition period. The main areas of community interest were around route selection, electric and magnetic fields (EMF) and construction impacts.

All submissions were considered and addressed in the final REF. A report summarising all the feedback received from the community and key stakeholders during the REF exhibition period is available, along with the final REF (see above under ‘Review of Environmental Factors (REF))’.

Construction for the project is now finished. We will continue to keep the community informed about the status of the permanent restoration of roads impacted by the work.