POWERGRAMS

19 And, by the way, the Federal Aviation Administration said Alabama Power workers couldn't proceed without its permission because company bucket trucks extended so high up on such a tall mountain they would pose a danger along the major navigational jetway directly overhead. It was just another day at the office for Kendale Harbison's Transmission Construction crew. The machinations of nature and government converged last fall to make the replacement of three transmission poles a rather interesting project. Actually, what was officially called the "Gaston-Yellow Dirt Project" involved more than three transmission poles. It involved replacing nine poles within the confines of the Talladega National Forest in east-central Alabama, and had been in the planning stages since 2012. As far as the government goes, the ranger's office at the Talladega National Forest eventually partnered with Alabama Power to replace the poles, which were not only worn out, but needed to comply with new federal environmental regulations. Renewing a 50-year right-of-way permit with the U.S. Forest Service required extensive work to ensure regulatory compliance before any work could begin. The entire project was a work of art insofar as the cooperative spirit between Alabama Power, the National Park Service and the FAA. "A complex project like this illustrates how well the private and public sectors can work together to make something good happen," said Transmission Project Manager Edna Weaver. The three transmission poles are next to the popular 335-mile Pinhoti National Recreational Trail, the longest in both Alabama and Georgia, which merges into the Appalachian Trail near Blue Ridge in the north Georgia mountains. While the trail promotes geing back to nature, big commercial jetliners heading to and from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport regularly roar overhead, as do military jets, on what amounts to an aeronautical interstate above the Talladega Forest transmission poles. On a blustery October morning, Harbison and his dozen or so line crew members could do no work with the bucket trucks until high winds died down. While waiting, they were just as likely to see a Delta Boeing 757 as a deer, snake or wild turkey. "We're not puing anyone up in the bucket if the wind's blowing more than 30 miles per hours," Harbison said. It was aer lunch on several days before the crew could start work. Meanwhile, just geing to the remote site each day was an undertaking. The 8-mile access road to the transmission poles, running along the Sherman Cliffs, had to first be improved with drainage and cleared of tree limbs to accommodate heavy equipment and transport of the 90-foot-long poles. More than 240 truckloads of rubble had to be hauled off. "What used to take 45 minutes in a crew pickup to access the structure now takes about 25 minutes," said Harold Duncan, whose Transmission Construction support team toiled to upgrade the road. Still, it was a slow go to get the massive equipment for excavation and drilling to the sites. "It took eight hours to walk it to the site," Duncan said. Once there, it was no picnic. "In all my years working in construction, this was by far the hardest rock I've ever witnessed," Harbison said. It took 10 days to bore three holes 11 feet deep and 4 feet wide. More than 1,000 tons of rock were hauled in dump trucks. As difficult as the logistics were, the Transmission Project Management group had multiple federal permiing hurdles to navigate, which is why it had to start the process five years ago. While the project was a concerted effort between Alabama Power and governmental agencies, it was just as much so between Alabama Power units, including Transmission Project Management and Customer Service; Environmental Compliance; Corporate Real Estate; Transmission Construction; the Alabama Control Center; and the Eastern Transmission Maintenance Center. "This project demonstrates you don't just show up and do things like this," Weaver said. "It takes years to file for permits and coordinate the work, not only with the federal government, but within the company. The success of our teams working safely to complete such a massive undertaking made this a very rewarding project." Complex project to replace 90-foot-tall power poles on a mountain required extensive preparations and construction. Employees Trent Wallace, Trey Kimbrell, Brandon Collier and Trevor Scott work in bucket trucks.

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