The City of Burnaby is upgrading its electrical system and adding an emergency generator at city hall, at an estimated cost of $2.02 million.
The generator is being added to keep city computers running during a blackout, according to John Cusano, project manager and Burnaby's deputy chief building inspector.
"We've had problems over the years, where a car hits a power pole or a windstorm knocks power lines down, etcetera, so we end up without power," he said in an interview Wednesday. "It basically cuts out our ability to provide computer services."
The upgrade is being done as the generator is installed, he added.
"The main city hall building . still had the original electrical room equipment, which goes back to the mid-'50s, so it's a little bit old," he said.
The main electrical room, which houses the transformer and handles the main electrical distribution for city hall, has older equipment and it can be difficult to replace parts, Cusano explained.
"The decision was made, with council's blessing, to not only do the emergency power generator but also to replace equipment that was over 60 years old," he added.
While the project should allow the city to weather future storms and keep computer systems running, it is unclear how city hall would fare in the event of an earthquake.
"The city hall building itself, because it was built in the 1950s, is an older building and certainly it would have been designed to the codes of the day but wouldn't meet today's codes," Cusano said. "There are literally thousands and thousands of buildings throughout the Lower Mainland in the same situation"
B.C. building codes are updated every five years or so, with new codes coming out this December, he added, and there are usually some changes made.
As for the project, it is a little behind schedule because the company manufacturing the generator was not able to complete it in the time requested, Cusano said. He expects it to be delivered in the next week or two.
"When it arrives, it basically will be hoisted with a crane on a truck and plunked down onto a pad that's being designed to carry it, along with the new electrical work," he said, adding all the infrastructure has been in place since the summer.
After the generator is installed, the contractor will test it, and the final work replacing the old equipment will be completed, he added.
"It's done in the evenings after business hours so we don't impact the operations of city hall," Cusano said.
The contractor estimates connecting the generator should be completed six to eight weeks after it is delivered, he added.
The project is the result of a system review, which was approved in 2008.
The review stated that the electrical substation and main distribution panel were installed in 1957 and were many years past their service life, according to a final committee report on the review that went to council last December.
"With replacement components no longer available, the ability to maintain the system would not be possible should key components fail," the report stated. " Failure of the main electrical system would not only affect operations at city hall but would also greatly affect data and communications at all city facilities as the main communication hub is located in the basement level of the city hall. The communications hub provides data and communication links to the fire stations, recreation centres and libraries, and throughout the city hall campus."
Council approved a $2.02-million contract with J. Floris Construction Ltd. for construction of the generator and transformer electrical room last December.
The project includes the installation of a 750-kilowatt power generator capable of providing full back-up emergency power to city hall in the event of a power failure, according to the report.
"It would cover city hall - all of it," said Barry Davis, the city's acting director of engineering. "In the extreme event, we would be up and running as a city government."
The City of New Westminster installed an emergency generator in 2007.
"It does not service the entire building but only the essential services," Brian Markel, building maintenance supervisor for the City of New Westminster, stated in an email to the NOW.
The generator covers telephone, security and fire services, and the city's emergency operations centre, he added.
