Harris Creek Cable Installation

In December 2018, Crofton installed 6250 linear feet of 25kV submarine power cable; crossing Harris Creek in Talbot County, MD. In the spring of 2016, Crofton began serving as an agent in the permitting process through Army Corps and Maryland Board of Public Works attending agency meetings and conducting site investigations, which continued to the fall of 2017. During this process, additional steps were introduced to protect a sensitive oyster sanctuary at the installation site. To ensure the preservation of the oyster sanctuary the installation site would require zero turbidity, limiting plowing times to periods of slack water and a major alteration in the installation route that would add nearly 1500 feet of plowing. This ultimately led Crofton to design an innovative method of plow embedment that did not utilize water jets. This new plow dug a narrow 4’ deep trench and deposited the conductors directly into the trench without stirring up the bottom sediment. The installation process required precise navigation and electronic plotting controls to ensure that the trenching was conducted outside of the oyster grounds and that the pulling anchor wasn’t placed these same ecologically sensitive areas. Congratulations to the Crofton team for finding a creative solution to preserve the oyster sanctuaries during installation! Watch below to see how they pulled it off.