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The Beginning of a Repair Manual for Compromised Large Electrical Line Tower Bases (My Drawings)
These can be repaired or have various components replaced through a variety of methods.
The type and extent of any repair would depend on the type and extent of the deterioration.
I have implemented some of these repairs but other more extensive repairs could be engineered and performed on towers in-place.
The drawings below layout some of the problems and remedies possible for existing power line structures.
My Time Designing Repairs Systems and Making Other Repairs Began with a Helicopter Inspection of Some of the Towers and Evaluations of Access Points
The Day Began Very Early at the Billings Airport
The Day Began Very Early at the Billings Airport
Fueling Up Our Ride for the Day
Fueling Up Our Ride for the Day
What a Nice Machine!
What a Nice Machine!
Getting Comfortable in a Front Seat
A Bit Wet But Ready to Get Going!
A Bit Wet But Ready to Get Going!
We had a very experienced pilot who described flying this chopper not by, "Getting in", but by, "Putting it on!" He kept our altitude very low so that I could evaluate various aspects of tower locations, repair types, and access roads. The power line manager explained that seeing some of the sites from the air gave one a good sense of the distances and road conditions that would be encountered during the three years or so of work I would be performing. I found this to be very true after seeing what would be involved from the air.
And We are Off!
We Followed I-90 Going East to Get to the 1st General Location of Where Work Would Begin
The Wet Day Didn't Dampen Our Pilot's Demeanor as We Flew Low for the Bset View of the Terrain
After Some Time We Switched to Paralleling a Secondary Highway in Our Search
This Access Proved to Be Exciting (Among Other Problems, I Ran Headlong into Giant Rattlesnake Whose Thorax was as Big as a Can of Foster's Lager)
The Highway is Easily Recognizable in the Distance But the Access Road in the Middle of the Drainage is More Difficult to Find
Where are Those Power Lines Anyway?
Here They Are! With a Right-of-Way Access Road in the Upper Right Corner
The Scope and Scale of the Power Lines Can Be Observed from the Air as They Extend Off into the Distance
The Single Point Bases for Towers That are Basically Held Up by the Power Lines Themselves
The More Stable Towers are Placed at About a Mile Apart and are Also Used for Extreme Elevation Changes and for Changes of Direction
Flew Over a Refinery as We Neared Billings
The Refinery Tank Farm Comes into View
A Closer View of the Refinery Itself
It was Again Very Wet by the Time We Returned to the Airport
Heading Home with a Reflection of the Project Manual Sitting on the Dash Board.
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