The Water and Power Authority last week approved a multimillion-dollar plan to place the electricity feeders for the territory’s two main hospitals underground.
Placing the feeders below ground will make it easier to restore service to the hospitals following a hurricane or other disaster, a WAPA release said.
On St. Croix, two contractors will work to place Feeder 4, which serves Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital, underground. V.I. Paving will construct an underground duct bank from Golden Rock to Five Corners at a cost of $460,320. Zenon Construction will complete the feeder project from Five Corners to the hospital at a cost of approximately $1.3 million.
On St. Thomas, the WAPA board approved Island Roads to install the underground duct bank to Roy L. Schneider Hospital and the Hatchette Substation at a cost of approximately $1.8 million. The duct bank will run from Krum Bay to the Vitelco Building and One Stop Gas Station.
The two projects will be 90 percent funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. WAPA will pay the balance. Both projects are expected to be completed by September, historically the height of the hurricane season.
Meanwhile, WAPA began supplying the Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas through underground lines. That project cost more than $1 million. Costs were split 90-10 between the federal government and the utility respectively.
In other action, the WAPA board approved a $769,537 contract with Besco Inc. for a hot gas path inspection and repair of Unit 14. The board also agreed to reactivate the Alva McFarlane Scholarship Program, which grants $160,000 for engineering and computer science majors.
