Northern Strands was awarded the supply of ropes, attachments, wirelock and specialty equipment for the WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) project in New Mexico. 

The WIPP website describes the project as follows, "WIPP was constructed for disposal of defense-generated TRU waste from DOE sites around the country. TRU waste consists of clothing, tools, rags, residues, debris, soil and other items contaminated with small amounts of plutonium and other man-made radioactive elements. The waste is permanently disposed of in rooms mined in an underground salt bed layer over 2000 feet from the surface.

The $75 million shaft sinking is integral to increasing ventilation to the WIPP underground. When completed, it will be WIPP’s largest shaft at 26 feet in diameter, reaching 2,275 feet, with drifts, or passageways, being excavated at the 2,150-foot level to match the rest of the WIPP underground that will eventually connect to the shaft."

The scope of supply includes the sinking rope, stage rope, clam rope, and emergency hoist ropes along with all the shaft sinking rope attachments. Due to their wide range of capabilities, Northern Strands was also able to provide the sinking bucket chains, plumb bob lines, load cells, as well as specialty installation and maintenance equipment including maneuvering glands and a double down sheave.