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Board approves $299,719 task order for White Rock substation work after engineers find deep‑pier foundation needs
Summary
Following soil borings that found loose soils to ~30 feet, the board approved a task order with Sandros Corp to move conduit, communications and prepare the White Rock substation site as DPU finalizes deep‑pier foundation work and a separate drilling bid.
The Los Alamos County Board of Public Utilities voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a task order for preparatory work at the White Rock substation after staff described unexpected geotechnical complications and a plan to preserve service during construction.
Dennis, who has led the substation work, told the board recent soil borings showed loose soils to about 30 feet, requiring a foundation solution with deep piers and an oil‑containment tank beneath the transformer pad. "We found it to be 30 feet, and it's very loose soil," he said. The design now calls for four deep piers (about 21 feet below surface, 4‑ft diameter) under a 20‑by‑20‑by‑4‑ft oil containment tank.
Because transformer T2 currently supplies the community and T1 has been removed after failure, Dennis said crews must keep T2 in service during the cutover and trench new SCADA, AC and DC power feeds through a re‑routed path. He described running three 500‑kcmil copper conductors per phase from the transformer to the switchgear and burying new conduit along the fence line to feed the relocated equipment.
Dennis also warned drilling and pier installation are specialty work and will be bid separately; local drilling costs are uncertain and could be higher than typical estimates. "I have no idea what it's gonna cost to drill ... it's a very specialty piece of equipment," he said, adding that local experience suggests prices above earlier estimates.
After the presentation, a board member moved to approve Task Order No. 3 (AGR24‑04D) with Sandros Corp for $299,719.24 plus applicable gross receipts tax for a 120‑day term; the motion passed 4‑0. The task order covers conduit, trenching and coordination work in advance of the deep‑pier contract, which staff will take to bid separately.
Members thanked staff for the graphic and explanation and emphasized the urgency because a single transformer currently serves a large portion of White Rock customers. Staff said they had an emergency agreement with PNM for mobile substation support in the event of an outage.
The task order was approved with the understanding that the deep drilling and pier installation will be procured as a distinct contract and that staff will return with schedule updates and drilling cost quotes.
