Canadian Niagara Power project to interrupt traffic

Traffic flow will be impacted along the Niagara Parkway and on the Peace Bridge as a Canadian Niagara Power crew removes an international power line Saturday.

CNP will replace a power line that runs between Fort Erie and Buffalo, N.Y., and two aging lattice steel towers—one on both sides of the border.

“The towers are over 100 years old and need to be replaced,” said Kristine Carmichael, a spokeswoman for CNP. “The towers are subject to wear and tear and the elements and that’s why we’re embarking on this project.”

The international power line connects CNP and National Grid’s transmission systems. Rebuilding the international power line is necessary to restore electrical reliability to the CNP transmission system in Fort Erie.

A CNP crew will begin to remove the power line about 7 a.m. and work is expected to take about four hours to complete. During that time, Carmichael said motorists can expect a portion of the Niagara Parkway from Princess St., to Central Ave. and Queen St. to be closed between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m. and traffic on the Peace Bridge will be interrupted for about 20 minutes beginning at 6:45 a.m.

Boating along the Niagara River will also be restricted.

Carmichael said the work would be completed in three stages. CNP has selected O’Connell Electric as the contractor for the duration of the project

The first stage of the project, which will take place this weekend, consists of the removal of existing cables from the steel lattice towers.

The CNP crew will remove the cables by using a controlled implosion cutting technique that applies the energy from a small, precise implosion to cut the cables releasing them from the towers.

Carmichael said this method was chosen because it is safe and involves “minimal human contact.”

Residents in the vicinity of both towers may hear an instantaneous loud bang similar to a firework.

After the cable has been severed, it will be collected on the Canadian side of the border.

The second stage involves dismantling and removing two steel towers. That process, expected to begin later this month, will take about two weeks to complete, Carmichael said.

The third stage involves building new towers on the same sites, replacing the lattice structures with new towers consisting of steel tubes, and string a new cable between them.

The new power line is expected to be completed in October 2015, Carmichael said.