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45 North Aviation

(231) 668-6000

Power Line Patrol

45 North Aviation offers power line patrol to help keep utility costs down. Helicopters are versatile and cost efficient enough to handle detailed work for power lines and more! Check out our utility services.

power line patrol

When it comes to transmission power lines, reliability is the name of the game. With the ever-growing Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Reliability Corporation (NERC), compliance issues for electric power lines and aerial patrols are becoming more popular among electric utilities. Whether it is inspecting the condition of the infrastructure or finding those "danger trees" that can cost utilities millions of dollars in repairs and/or outages, we can customize our patrols to fit customer needs and budgets. Aerial patrols play an integral part of a utility's Vegetation Management Program by gathering the necessary data to implement an effective plan to prevent contact and maintain proper clearances. After witnessing other utilities pay steep penalties and litigation related to "critical line contacts", more and more electric utilities are realizing the benefits of preventative right-of-way maintenance and aerial inspections.

 

rotor-wing patrols

Nothing matches the capability, versatility, and cost-benefit of using helicopters to patrol power lines. A very detailed and comprehensive inspection of every single structure can be obtained using our helicopters. TC Helicopters deploys a proven inspection technique in which the helicopter can be accomplished without the use of binoculars and has proven to be more thorough and cost-effective than ground-based inspections.

Items that can be inspected through this method include:

  • Static/Phase Line Saddle Pins
  • Loose Bolts/Nuts
  • Tree Clearance
  • Ground Wire Connections
  • Woodpecker Holes
  • Insulator Condition
  • Shield/Phase Line Lightning Strikes

Whether you require a slow fly-by or a detailed hover inspection, TC Helicopters signature services will meet the need. TC Helicopters' relationships with other technical and professional service providers allow us to assist utilities in conducting infrared inspections, corona inspections, LIDAR and GIS data acquisition, preliminary route studies, design services, and legal boundary issues regarding survey matters.