Client: BC Hydro
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Status: Completed, 2019 to 2024
Overview
The challenge. Adding cellular carrier equipment to live transmission assets introduces loading those structures were never designed to carry — antennas, cabling and mounts on structures ranging from 138kV poles to 500kV lattice towers. Each attachment request forces the same question: can the structure take it, and if not, what upgrade makes it possible?
Our approach. Under BC Hydro’s cell site program, our engineers performed structural analysis on each candidate structure against the proposed carrier equipment, and where capacity fell short, designed the upgrades that closed the gap. Five years of the program built a repeatable engineering pipeline: model the structure, apply the combined loading, verify against code, and either clear the attachment or specify the reinforcement.
The outcome. Carriers proceeded with their network build-outs while the structural integrity of the transmission network stayed protected — on every structure, from 138kV wood poles to 500kV steel lattice. The program ran from 2019 to 2024.
Services applied
- Structural analysis
- Upgrade design
- Third-party attachment engineering