Decommissioning and Rigging Switchgear

Disconnection comes first, and it is the long pole

Nothing can be touched until the gear is de-energised, locked out and verified. Depending on where your lineup sits in the system, that means either a utility disconnect, a plant shutdown, or a licensed electrician isolating the feeders upstream. On medium voltage gear it also means grounding.

This step belongs to the site rather than the buyer, because it involves your electrical system and your safety procedures. It is also the step that determines the schedule, so it is worth starting the conversation with your electrician or utility before you have even accepted an offer.

Section separation

A switchgear lineup arrives at a building as separate sections bolted together, with the bus splices made in the field. It leaves the same way. Separating sections means removing the splice plates, disconnecting the control wiring between sections and unbolting the frames from each other and from the floor.

Done carefully, this preserves the resale value of every section. Done carelessly, with a torch and a hurry, it converts the lineup into scrap. This is the main reason we do our own teardown rather than accepting gear that somebody else has already pulled apart.

Rigging out of the room

Individual sections commonly weigh between several hundred and several thousand pounds. Getting them out involves some combination of pallet jacks, machine skates, gantries, telehandlers and cranes, chosen from what the room and the path allow. Door widths, floor loading, ramp grades, elevator capacity and overhead clearance all constrain the plan.

This is why we ask for a photo of the room and the path to the dock at quoting time. A plan built on accurate information produces an offer that does not change when the crew arrives.

Freight

Low voltage sections generally move on standard flatbeds or in dry vans. Tall medium voltage sections and outdoor switchhouses may need step-deck trailers, and occasionally permits or escorts. Loads are strapped and cribbed so that sections do not rack in transit, because a section that arrives twisted is worth less than one that arrives square.

We stage regionally and consolidate loads, which is how we absorb freight without it changing your number.

Who pays for what

On our purchases: teardown, section separation, rigging, cribbing, loading, freight and any permits are our cost, and they are already reflected in the offer you receive. The site is responsible for the electrical disconnection and for providing access.

If somebody quotes you a higher number but expects you to deliver the gear to a dock, compare the two carefully. Rigging and freight on a large lineup can exceed the difference between the two offers.