An ageing 11kV substation feeding a residential area on the north side of Hitchin had reached end of life. The DNO was refreshing the switchgear and the four feeder cables coming in needed safely isolating, spiked and cut so the old kit could be removed.
Being our home patch, we could mobilise inside an hour of the call — and had the spiking, cuts and handover done inside the working day.
What the job involved
- Pre-job route ID for all four feeder cables and verification against DNO records.
- DNO sanction-for-test issued cable by cable through the morning.
- Four remote-fired spikes carried out under full exclusion zone protocol.
- Cable cuts, end-capping and handover to the DNO's switchgear installer same afternoon.
- Photo records and sign-off issued before we left site.
Key challenges
- Tight working space inside the existing brick sub — exclusion zones planned with care.
- Adjacent residential property required noise and access management throughout.
Outcome
- All four spikes completed inside the working day.
- Old switchgear removed the following day with no programme slip.
- DNO commissioned the replacement unit on schedule the week after.
Local team, properly turned out, paperwork done before they left site. That's the bar we set for spiking on the framework.
— DNO Operations Engineer, Hitchin, Hertfordshire
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