Lower Colorado River Authority

Описание: Wind and dust are signatures of the west texas landscape. Today however the grits blast is coming from an unusual source. LCRA has contracted with Air2 for maintenance of a transmission line that runs from Akaime to the Rio Pecos substation. And Air2 uses a helicopter instead of the more triditional bucket truck.

"We're installing dampeners on the transmission lines in order to keep the wire from vibrating."

Work that understandably requires a lot of concentration.

"Your on your game, on top of everything. Always looking around, heads looking about a billion different places at the same time. We're looking at the ground, we're looking at the pole, the wire, the position of the guide, his head signals, and we are also talking to the guys on the radio, so we've got quite a bit going on all the time. And it's really pretty fun. It keeps it exciting."

Oh yeah, they also have to be watching for moving objects.

"Buzzards are surprisingly stupid. They will actually fly right at you, as well as ducks. Ducks will also fly at you. So we always watch out for the birds"

Spectacle and Excitement aside, this is a better way for LCRA to do this particular job. Using a helicopter, dampers can be installed on a structure in about 2 minutes. Traditional bucket truck, 20 minutes.

"Plus if you take one of our trucks and drive down through here, it can take days and days to get through some of this right-of-way. Some of the land owners have called and asked us when we are going to do it, and weve already gotten through their land and they didn't even know we were there, so this is working very well."

And that's not the only benefit to the land owner. Environmental concerns are being addressed by not transporting undesireable plants from one ranch to another.

"There's also their sheep and their calves, and we don't want to be disturbing that."

As the demand for West Texas wind energy grows, LCRA will continue to look for new ways to keep that electricity reliable. On this project, using a helicopter is a smarter better choice. And it's really fun to watch.

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Lower Colorado River Authority
AIR2 airborne crews deliver customer focused power line service construction, maintenance and inspection services to North American utility companies.

To see more of Air2 maintenance services, visit http://air2.com/maintenance/