The underground infrastructure of Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S, is a tightly orchestrated web of water pipes, storm drains and sewer lines, which, combined with electric distribution, and telephone, natural gas, cable and fiber-optic services, allow the city to continually build on its storied history. Lights burn long into the night at Harvard University where young minds shape the nation's political, social and economic agendas, and scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) map the human genome. At the same time, Rebecca's Cafe brews coffee for weary patrons on a Saturday morning. Clearly, Cambridge would like as little disruption as possible to its way of life. NSTAR (Boston, Massachusetts) knew this well when it sought to bring the output of a new 187-MW natural gas-fired combustion turbine generator at Mirant's Kendall Generating Station to the New England power grid. While the project promised to strengthen the energy security of Cambridge via a more reliable power grid, engineers would have to weave the transmission line into the already crowded maze beneath the city's streets. The city wanted the added reliability but without a disruption and any visual blight. Under the direction of Project Manager Y. Oktay, NSTAR engineers proceeded to find a suitable route for an underground transmission line installation in a concrete duct bank from the Kendall Station on the east end of Cambridge to the Putnam Substation, 2.6 miles (4 km) to the west.
展开▼