Specialist manufacturer enlisted for overseas highways project

Products designed and made in Yorkshire are contributing to a massive infrastructure scheme.

The two-in-one cable guide clamps, manufactured by North Yorkshire-based Ellis Patents, are being used to guide and secure 4.5km of power cables being installed as part of a major project in Vestland, Norway.

The Sotra Connection is a new national road being built by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration between Bergen and Øygarden municipality.

It includes the construction of a new road bridge, demolition of nine high voltage power masts and the re-routing of the related power cables through a series of tunnels and underneath the current Sotra Bridge – an element of the project known as the Stømkabel Sotrasambandet.

Ellis Patents Cable Guide Clamps, which were originally developed to solve a live project installation problem for Siemens, are being used to guide the power cables into place, before securing them and providing protection in the case of a short-circuit.

Kelly Brown, Ellis Patents head of sales, said: “This is perhaps the biggest infrastructure project in a generation in Norway; and when complete will provide a modern and fast connection from the Sotra islands to the country’s second biggest city and beyond.

“The fact that our Cable Guide Clamps were specified is a matter of pride for all at Ellis, and goes to show that our new innovations are every bit as trusted as the likes of our Emperor and Vulcan+ cable cleats, which helped to establish us as the world leader in our field.”

The Stømkabel Sotrasambandet specification was secured through Ellis Patents’ Norwegian distributor, Procab.