By Press Times staff

PEWAUKEE  – A helicopter and heavy-duty air saw will be used to trim trees along the 345,000-volt electric transmission line in Brown, Calumet and Outagamie counties beginning the week of Feb. 20.

The aerial saw work will be conducted between Kaukauna to Forest Junction.

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.”
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, we ask people stay at least 300 feet away from the aerial saw and work crews if they do see it in their area,” an ATC rep stated.