Back to news & events
Only birds allowed
05/07/2016
A new initiative designed to protect migrating birds from power lines and safeguard electricity supplies has been carried out in South Derbyshire.
Mike Smith and Simon Archer are here terminating the conductors at the section pole.
The initiative involves an overhead line that spans the River Trent and its flood plain at Swarkstone, near Derby. Work has been carried out to replace it with a more robust type of line and to install bird diverters, as Team Manager Andy Mallon explained.
“During a week-long project, a total of eight spans of line were replaced, including one which crossed the river. Specialist training was undertaken to enable staff to install line with a fully insulted aluminium design, while an all-terrain Supercat vehicle was also used to avoid damaging boggy fields.
Mick Smith climbing the section pole at the side of the river to help Simon Archer terminate the conductors.
“A series of bird diverters were then fitted to the new lines to minimise any likelihood of further strikes, which we hope will do the trick. In the few weeks since the work was completed, there haven’t been any issues so we’re hopeful that this has been a successful initiative,” said Andy.
The project forms part of our commitment to provide a consistently high level of service to customers. Over £7 billion will be invested on our electricity network between now and 2023.
Mike Smith and Simon Archer are here terminating the conductors at the section pole.
The initiative involves an overhead line that spans the River Trent and its flood plain at Swarkstone, near Derby. Work has been carried out to replace it with a more robust type of line and to install bird diverters, as Team Manager Andy Mallon explained.
“During a week-long project, a total of eight spans of line were replaced, including one which crossed the river. Specialist training was undertaken to enable staff to install line with a fully insulted aluminium design, while an all-terrain Supercat vehicle was also used to avoid damaging boggy fields.
Mick Smith climbing the section pole at the side of the river to help Simon Archer terminate the conductors.
“A series of bird diverters were then fitted to the new lines to minimise any likelihood of further strikes, which we hope will do the trick. In the few weeks since the work was completed, there haven’t been any issues so we’re hopeful that this has been a successful initiative,” said Andy.
The project forms part of our commitment to provide a consistently high level of service to customers. Over £7 billion will be invested on our electricity network between now and 2023.
Tagged under
- About Us