All of the towers for Appalachian Power's 765-kV project have been erected, making one of the nation's largest power line projects an active wire-pulling operation.

In total, 333 towers were needed across the 90-mile (145-km) route from Wyoming Station in Wyoming County, West Virginia, to Jacksons Ferry Station in Wythe County, Virginia. Of those, 111 are self-supporting four-legged towers constructed from the ground up, while 222 are V-shaped towers supported with guy wires.

“It is extremely gratifying to reach this construction milestone,” said Ron Poff, project manager. “Last winter's wet weather challenged our construction team, and through dedication and extraordinary effort, the project is on pace to meet the target completion date in late June.”

A special heavy-lift Boeing 234 Chinook helicopter, operated by Columbia Helicopters Inc. (Portland, Oregon, U.S.), delivered eight partially assembled guyed-V towers in two major pieces to the hard-to-access areas in Bland and Wythe counties. First masts, or legs, were delivered to the site and received by ground crews who secured guy wires and ensured the tower was plumb. The Chinook then returned and slowly lowered the bridge, while crews guided it into the specially fabricated brackets that hold the bridge into place.

This specialized helicopter can lift up to 24,000 pounds. On average, Appalachian's guyed-V towers weigh 50,000 pounds. The Chinook's activity is complete, but a smaller helicopter will continue to work on the project delivering lighter components and equipment.

Wire-pulling operations, or stringing electricity conductors on the towers, began in June on the northern end of the project and will continue into early June 2006. To help reduce noise from the project, the new power line uses a six-bundle conductor configuration, the first in North America.

Appalachian built a mile of six-bundle test conductor on an existing 765-kV line in Floyd, Virginia, in 1995, and learned that the configuration cut the audible noise from the transmission line approximately in half.

Appalachian Power proposed construction of a new 765-kV line in 1990 to address a growing customer demand in its West Virginia and Virginia service territory. Peak customer demands in the area have more than doubled since the last major transmission line to serve the area was put in service in 1973. Appalachian predicts that by mid-2006, when the Wyoming-Jacksons Ferry line is energized, peak demand will be nearly triple the 1973 load.