Helicopter and air saw remove branches near power line in Oconto County
Beginning the week of August 19, a high-powered pneumatic saw attached to a helicopter will be used to trim trees along a 345,000-volt power line in Oconto, Marinette and Florence counties.
The sawing work is being performed for ATC by Aerial Solutions between the Morgan Substation in Oconto County and the Plains Substation in Florence County.
A chainsaw with rotating blades hangs on a 27-meter-long vertical boom attached to a helicopter to control the growth of trees and other vegetation near high-voltage power lines.
“It takes an aerial saw just a few hours to do what would normally take ground crews several days,” said Joe Benzschawel, senior vegetation management specialist at ATC, in a press release. “However, aerial work is weather dependent, so the duration of the work can vary.”
The power line runs mostly north-south from the town of Morgan in Oconto County west of Oconto Falls, to near Spruce and Klondike, west of Athelstane in Marinette County, before running northeast of Niagara, where it terminates at the Plains substation.
Air traffic control is asking people in the area to maintain a minimum distance of 300 feet from helicopters, trucks and ground crews while they work.
