Photo shows that State Grid Chongqing Electric Power Co., Ltd.'s emergency repair backbone team completed the helicopter-aided assembly of an emergency restoration system tower in southwest China's Chongqing on December 17. (By Li Ziyan)
BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- For the first time, State Grid Chongqing Electric Power employed a helicopter to assemble an emergency restoration system (ERS) tower and reinforce its reactions to winter power outage accidents.
On Tuesday, the regional grid operator in southwest China's Chongqing rehearsed the assembly of a 3-legged ERS tower by using a helicopter to transport related angle steel towers and putting in place power lines amid interim traffic, communication and power interruptions.
Photo shows that staff members of State Grid Chongqing Electric Power Co., Ltd.'s emergency repair backbone team are checking the helicopter before hoisting and transporting the angle steel towers for an ERS tower on December 17. (By Li Ziyan)
In a season when cold rain, snowfall and the freezing temperature are apt to cause power outages, the helicopter-aided ERS tower erection rehearsal staged in Wulong District of Chongqing tested the grid operator's urgent repair capability in poor terrain conditions.
Facilitated by heavy lift drones, the urgent repair rehearsal filled in the blank of medium helicopter-aided assembly of ERS towers in Chongqing and offered new ways of emergency power line repair under extreme weather conditions.
During the rehearsal, erecting a 21-meter long angle steel tower that weighs 1.5 tonnes on land of one square meter needs to surmount difficulties brought by the tower's relatively long structure, turbulent air flow-induced instability, and risks of personal injury in connecting new power lines to the grid.
Photo shows that staff members of State Grid Chongqing Electric Power Co., Ltd.'s emergency repair backbone team are driving a helicopter to transport an angle steel tower to the urgent repair location in mountainous areas of Wulong District in Chongqing on December 17. (By Li Ziyan)
Far more difficult than hoisting and assembling self-supporting angle steel towers, the 3-legged ERS tower lacks stability and requires a helicopter to hover stably in the air and adjust positions for multiple times in erection, said the person in charge of the company's emergency repair backbone team.
To resolve troubles in assembly, State Grid Chongqing Electric Power developed the assembly guiding frame to help locate and temporarily fix the ERS tower, improving notably the safety and success ratio of assembly.
Depicted as dancing on a steel rope by power workers, assembling a 3-legged ERS tower via a helicopter also avoids a lengthy period of foundation construction, which largely contributes to guaranteeing power supply during the peak power consumption periods in winter, according to the company.
(Edited by Duan Jing with Xinhua Silk Road, duanjing@xinhua.org)
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