BPA transmission line rebuild on schedule

Bonneville Power Administration officials expect to complete on time the rebuild of a 17-mile section of 115-kilovolt line from Libby to Troy. Early estimates called for the work to be wrapped up by the end of November and everything is on schedule.

“I keep in close contact with the contractor and we’re both confident that the line work will be completed by Nov. 30,” said Erich Orth, project manager. “All of the area had some critical habitat and all of those areas have opened up.”

Osprey, falcons and eagles cooperated by fledging early.

“We knew up front what those dates were and we put a construction schedule together to work with those dates,” Orth said.

Transmission line work is currently centered around two spots – in the vicinity of the Highway 2 access to the Old Highway 2 Interpretive Trail and beyond the end of Kootenai River Road in the Sheep Range Road area.

Construction activities include the removal and installation of poles, conductors and insulators along with the improvement and construction of access roads. Crews are also removing trees and other vegetation that may compromise the line.

 “We do have some challenges ahead of us. We’ll start to get helicopter activity on the Old Highway 2 trail where it’s inaccessible,” Orth said. “There are also some areas on Sheep Range Road that require some helicopters.”

Helicopters are used for construction material delivery and adding transmission wire to the new structures. Copters will not be used in residential areas such as Bighorn Terrace, Orth said.

Around 40 to 50 employees are working on the project – those on the ground and others back at the materials yard. A small portion of the rebuild involved a cooperative effort with Flathead Electric – a situation where the same contractor could be used to keep costs down.

“We’re there to rebuild the line but our No. 1 priority is safety,” Orth said. “People just need to be aware if they’re back in there. Big-game hunting season is going to open and they just need to be aware that we’re out there.”

On the Net: For background and public documents on the transmission line rebuild, go online to www.efw.bpa.gov/environmental_services/Document_Library/Libby .