PUD tackles pole replacement from above
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years AGO
Grant PUD/courtesy photo Grant County PUD crews were required to use a helicopter to replace a power pole damaged by fire last summer but not spotted until February.
Grant PUD/courtesy photo Grant County PUD crews were required to use a helicopter to replace a power pole damaged by fire last summer but not spotted until February.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | March 16, 2018 3:00 AM
QUINCY — Grant County PUD crews brought in a helicopter to help repair a pole damaged in last summer’s Monument Hill fire.
The damage to the pole was discovered in February by a maintenance crew from the Bonneville Power Administration, according to a press release from the Grant County PUD. The fire damaged a double-pole structure on the Columbia-Ancient Lakes 115-kilovolt transmission line, causing the poles to bend under the weight.
“Once the issue was identified, the affected segment of the line was de-energized and power rerouted” while repairs are made.
The damaged power poles were about two miles northeast of SR-28, and were “standing on a knoll about 40 feet above the nearest site that could be used (for repair equipment).” Repairs were conducted late last week.
“Due to the challenges of the remote location, crews replaced the structure with the assistance of a helicopter to set the new poles and cross arm. The new structure is made of steel, not cedar. Yet each steel pole weighs about half of what an equivalent cedar pole weighs.”
The Monument Hill fire burned about 6,000 acres northeast of Quincy, between Quincy and Ephrata, in August 2017.
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