Last week I spent three days traveling to several project sites in eastern Oregon and Washington where MacKay Sposito construction management staff is on the job.  This is the first episode of several that will highlight these projects and the people that are making sure the work gets done right. 

My first stop was just outside The Dalles, Oregon at the Celilo DC Converter to visit Mike Rossetti and Rick Davis.  The first thing you notice when driving up to the project is how sprawling it is. The older file photo to the right gives you some idea of overall size – roughly 50 acres - and this was taken before the current expansion project began.

The Celilo DC Converter is the north end of the Pacific High Voltage Direct Current Intertie. That’s quite a mouthful, and it’s a very important part of our nation’s power delivery system.  The south terminal is 846 miles away in southern California, near Los Angeles.  AC power is what we all use every day, but DC power is more economical to transmit long distances and it can flow either direction on this line so it can help balance demand between the Northwest and Southwest regions and keep the whole power delivery system more reliable. 

Understandably, the site is very secure and I had to check in with security and get escorted in to where Mike and Rick were waiting to meet me.  I got to check out their job trailer and learn about what was currently going on with the project.

Mike and Rick gave me a tour of the site and talked about what they each are responsible to review and document.  It’s a busy place and there was a lot of equipment excavating new foundations, placing rebar, and pouring concrete.  It has been a wetter than normal winter with many days of rain, mist, and fog, so unless an area was paved or rocked there was a lot of mud to deal with but the contractor was doing a good job keeping things reasonably tidy.  While I was there, we were lucky when the sun came out and we got treated to a brief rainbow.  

The general contractor, ABB, is based in Sweden.  Most of the construction for the $260 Million project is due to be completed this fall but testing of the new equipment may run into next year before the system is ready to go live.

It was great to visit with Mike and Rick and get a better understanding and appreciation for the Celilo DC Converter project and the important role these two fill to keep the project running smoothly and ensure BPA gets a high quality product.