Line crews from Michels Power (Brownsville, Wisconsin) were in the middle of rebuilding an 8-mile 69-kV transmission line for Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO; Cedar Rapids, Iowa) when rain began to fall in late May 2008. As they worked to set poles and string wire, the nearby Iowa River, which flowed next to the project, began to rise. The rain kept coming. On June 14, the levee protecting the site failed and water flooded the work area.

Fortunately, when the levee breached, the crews were off-site doing storm-restoration work for MidAmerican Energy (Des Moines, Iowa), so no one was injured. The crews, however, were concerned about the transmission poles that had been stake-dropped where they were to be stood up and set in place. As word of the flooding spread, the crews didn't know if the poles were resting in place under water or if they had simply floated away.

Access Roads Closed

The Michels crews planned to return to the job site during the week of June 16. At that time, however, flood waters made it impossible to assess the extent of the damage. The flood had washed out the main access roads that the crews used to get in to and out of the job site. Only one road remained open into Wapello, Iowa, which put a damper on the crews' movements. The normal 10 to 15 minutes it took for the linemen to get from their job trailer in Wapello out to the right-of-way turned into nearly two hours.

Without accessible roads leading to the CIPCO project, Michels decided to continue its storm-restoration work with MidAmerican Energy until power was restored to the utility's customers. When Michels' workers returned to the CIPCO project, they found that a majority of the roads were still flooded. However, they were able to get to the edge of a large hill overlooking the project. What they saw was unbelievable — the previously dry right-of-way looked like a large lake.

Michels decided to shut down the CIPCO project for one week, in hopes that the roads would be reopened and the linemen could access the area. But when the crews returned, all of the roads except for one were still flooded. A good portion of the project was at a higher elevation and was not affected by the flood. Therefore, Michels crews focused their efforts on the unaffected area.

Equipment and employees were mobilized to the upper portion of the project. As a result, the crews were able to frame and set poles and string wire for the 4.5 miles of line that was not underwater. By the time the crews finished the upper portion of the project, the water level had gone down enough for the crews to return to the previously flooded area.

Pole Recovery and Removal

Once the crews were able to get back into the area and survey the damage, they discovered that one-third of their project had been covered by 4 ft to 8 ft of water. Every pole they had laid down in the area had floated out of sight.

Luckily, Michels got help from a local farmer who had seen a few of the missing poles up to a mile away from the right-of-way. The farmer was generous enough to take the foremen out in his boat and show them where he had found the poles. In addition, a local truck driver offered some alternate routes that bypassed the closed roads.

Michels also used a machine called the Argo, a six-wheeled vehicle that floats. The Argo was used many times to cross rivers, ponds and swampy areas. With the help of a local farmer and his Argo, Michels was able to transport its crews through the swampy areas. In total, Michels lost about 33 poles and crews were able to locate and retrieve about 22 of them. However, the problems weren't over — now crews had to find a way to get the poles back to the job site.

Finding the poles was a challenge, but recovering them was even more difficult. Michels had to obtain permission from many different landowners and farmers who were already upset over the loss of their crops. Some poles also wound up on U.S. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hunting land. DNR gave the linemen permission to recover the poles, and a foreman was tasked with surveying the location of the poles and devising a retrieval plan.

In order to maintain the integrity of the project schedule, one crew returned to where it was dry enough to work while four to five linemen worked on pulling out the poles. Many of the poles were stuck in muddy areas that were still flooded. A few other poles floated across small lakes that were slowly receding. At this point, Michels had to decide whether to abandon the poles or retrieve them. The company decided to salvage as many poles as possible, leaving a few behind due to the associated recovery costs.

The foremen and crews were up to their chests in water, pulling poles out of the swampy holes. They wore the same hip waders that had been used during their storm work for MidAmerican Energy. They also used a large tracked digger derrick because of its rubber tracks rather than wheels. It allowed the workers to get farther than they expected into the wet, swampy areas while putting very little pressure on the ground.

Michels also brought in the Challenger, which is a large piece of machinery on tracks. It is specially equipped with a winch allowing the workers to pull out the poles with winch lines, ropes and chains. The linemen waded through the deep swamp holes, tied off the poles, and then pulled them across the ponds and the lakes.

A safety concern arose from working in the deep water, swamps and mud. With their feet stuck in the mud, the workers easily became exhausted as they worked to reclaim the poles. The crews were attentive to the depth of the mud and water, which were potential hazards. Another safety concern the crews were aware of was the potential for getting caught or pinched in the ropes when using the chains and winches.

To mitigate these risks, Michels had daily and scope-change tailgate talks. Foremen were required to fill out forms that stated the risks and hazards for the day, as well as the potential for the weather to affect their workday. These tailgate talks allowed the foreman and his crew to get on the same page while expressing any concerns they may have about the work ahead.

Delayed But Not Discouraged

Michels was able to retrieve 22 poles in about a week. Once they were returned to accessible areas, they were loaded onto trailers for delivery to their original destinations. This process took longer than expected because of the washed-out roads.

Michels was thankful that all the retrieved poles were in good condition, because they had been treated before arriving on-site to prevent water penetration, thereby avoiding rotting. While there was no damage to the poles, there were roughly seven or eight poles that had been framed but were carried away by the flood. CIPCO and Michels decided that the insulators and material should be removed and that the poles should be reframed with new equipment to ensure CIPCO's reliability standards were met.

When the floodwater finally resided, the right-of-way looked like a desert with silt and sand covering everything. To this day, Michels has yet to infiltrate that area. It appears as though that area is still drying out, but once there, Michels will continue to use tracked equipment because it creates less ground pressure than the traditional wheeled vehicles.