With lift boats arriving and some new work visible at the Fred Benson Town Beach, The Block Island Times reached out to the two companies overseeing the transmission cable reburial project, to see how the multi-million dollar project was progressing. Questions were answered by Ørsted A/S spokesperson Meaghan Wims and Ted Kresse, National Grid’s Director of Strategic Communications.
BIT: We see some lift boats offshore and a long pipe being stored on the Town Beach. Can you tell us about the lift boats and what the pipe on the beach will be used for?
Meaghan Wims: The liftboats have been set up to receive the drill from the southern parking lot. The pilot hole is now successfully complete and the widening of the hole will continue over the coming days. The long pipe is to allow the cable to be fed into at a later stage. We expect the floating out of the pipe towards the start of the week beginning Dec. 14. The pipe will be fed through the hole pulled from shore with the assistance of the liftboats.
Ted Kresse: The large black pipe on the beach is the actual conduit that will be pulled from