Corbett-Sugar-Quarry Transmission Line ROW Improvements

Phillips' items of work include ROW improvements, site preparation, road repair, and foundations and transmission line construction. The ROW improvements and site preparation consisted of the installation of silt fence, floating, and implementation of other turbidity control measures; vegetation clearing, removal, and mowing as applicable in upland and wetland areas; construction of at-grade and raised unpaved aggregate patrol roads and transmission structure pads; installation of culvert crossings; maintenance of an existing levee road access during construction; installation or modification of fences and gates; as-built survey; and restoration of disturbed areas including removal of debris and excess materials. Phillips also provided on-site erosion control methods and created a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan.

Approximately 15 miles of the 68-mile ROW were built through canal waterways in the Everglades. Phillips stringently adhered to environmental stewardship and permitting concerns, as heavily protected wetlands surrounded the project work. Crew members worked in waist-high water with amphibious equipment, developing specialized techniques and solutions to address the challenging conditions.

Phillips crews created a procedure for sewing wide bolts of structural support fabric both in and out of the water. This meant running two sewing machines simultaneously: a heavy-duty commercial machine for dry land and a smaller, battery-operated machine for use in the water.

To avoid creating on-site safety hazards and dangers with trucks hauling aggregate, Phillips moved much of the fabric sewing off-site and tightly scheduled the on-site laydown. Pieces of fabric were laid side by side, sewn together, and then wrapped into a roll to be transported to the ROW on a front-end loader. Crews could then pull the material along the ROW to place it and sew it to the previous roll. The overlapping fabric at the seams and extra width also provided an additional best management practice to further protect this sensitive environment during construction. Including the sewn fabric, Phillips customized a deliberate delivery system that efficiently and safely transported more than 1 million tons of material.