New Jersey Transit, Mason and Building 9 Substations

Burns served as project oversight advisor on a New Jersey Transit (NJT) and Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) joint development team.

The Mason and Building 9 Substations are critical to NJT operations — serving traction power for a significant portion of the Morris & Essex Commuter Rail Line and the Meadowlands Maintenance Complex (MMC), one of the agency’s most energy-intensive facilities.

After Superstorm Sandy caused severe damage to this mission-critical infrastructure, NJT and PSE&G formed a unique construction agreement to replace the Mason and Building 9 substations. PSE&G led design, construction, ownership, and operation.

The base $206-million project involved design and installation of a 230-kV, four-bay, 12-breaker, gas-indoor substation. The 230-kV substation served power for an outdoor 55/27-kV traction power substation through five 230/55-kV transformers.

Burns provided oversight advisory services on behalf of NJT, ensuring that project deliverables complied with terms of the NJT-PSE&G agreement. Responsibilities included:

• Advising and helping to coordinate the team on matters concerning design, construction and procurement.
• Serving as subject matter experts to advise management on strategies to keep the project on schedule, to mitigate project risks, and to analyze and advise on the project budget.

Final construction is scheduled to be completed in 2024.