Construction on the KC Streetcar’s Riverfront Extension is underway, with early work including drilling for overhead catenary system foundations and setting poles. The overhead catenary system (OCS) is a collection of poles and suspended wires which power a streetcar. To ensure these 30′-45′ tall poles are secure, foundations must be drilled and filled with concrete before installation.
The Riverfront Extension’s OCS construction team is using a different concept from the one used on the original starter line and the Main Street Extension.
The construction approach incorporates wide flange beams for the OCS poles. The wide flange beams are embedded within the foundations rather than bolted to embedded anchors, providing more rigid poles for the OCS wires. This process involves drilling and installing casing.
The picture to the right shows an example of the casing used on this project. Once the casing is installed, crews will auger and hollow dirt from the casing, the process to remove the rest of the dirt from within the casing. Once it is clear, they are able to pour a concrete base in the bottom of the casing.
Then, crews install the wide flange OCS beams and grounding angles.
The picture to the left shows an example of this. Grounding angles keep the poles upright. Conduits for lighting (underground electrical wires) and wire mesh will also be installed at this time. After everything is installed, two small steel beams are welded to the pole to act as support before pouring concrete within the casing pipe.
Once the foundations are complete and the poles are standing, crews will begin installing a support system to hang the wires. When the system is ready, the power will go “live” and testing will take place. The Riverfront Extension includes 81 foundations, 76 of which are for poles, and five foundations for down guides.
Down guides anchor the system to the ground long-term. The poles are approximately 75-100 feet apart. These poles are also able to accommodate lighting.
Eventually, the OCS will connect with the Riverfront Extension’s Traction Power Substation (TPSS) which is connected to the electrical grid through the local utility company, Evergy, and uses the OCS to transfer the power to each streetcar.
The image to the left shows where the future TPSS will live.
Crews are moving quickly with installing OCS foundations and poles, before long all will be installed!