Beginning the week of Feb. 20, a helicopter and heavy-duty air saw will be used to trim trees along a 138,000-volt electric transmission line in Marathon and Portage counties. The work will be conducted between Kronenwetter and Stevens Point, with part of this area within the Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative service area.
Landowners near the electric lines work have been notified by mail. Work may be postponed with little or no notice.
American Transmission Co. has contracted with Aerial Solutions, Inc. to manage vegetation growth along its transmission line corridors. This work will be accomplished using an aerial power saw with rotary blades that is suspended from a helicopter on a 90-foot vertical boom.
Aerial saw work is highly efficient when compared to the work of ground-based crews. “It takes just a few hours for an aerial saw to complete what typically takes ground crews several days to accomplish,” said Dan Horton, ATC senior vegetation management specialist. “However, the aerial work is weather-dependent so the duration of the work could fluctuate.”
Managing the growth of trees and other vegetation near high-voltage electric lines is important to help ensure public safety and electric system reliability. ATC performs routine vegetation management on its over 10,000 miles of high-voltage electric lines in five-year cycles.
In the interest of safety, please refrain from stopping, viewing and photographing the work from roadways.