Transmission crews repair major line in South Dakota

Twenty-four degrees below zero with the wind chill. The numbers on the thermometer mean nothing when a critical transmission line is down.

A late-January ice storm damaged the 345-kilovolt line that runs from Antelope Valley Station in North Dakota to the Broadland substation in South Dakota. Generation from the power plants in ND is restricted until repairs are finished.

Crews mobilized January 25, but were held up by continuing blizzard conditions. They arrived near Bowdle, South Dakota, on January 26.

(Terry Kringstad) We found four structures in this area with damage to the tower itself. Twenty miles to the south of here, theres another location weve got four miles of static wire down. Once we get done with putting the steel up here well be moving south to start working on that section.

Crews from Basin Electrics six Transmission System Maintenance outposts in four states were called in: twenty-two linemen and three mechanics in all.

(Kringstad): Weve got everybody in on this one. This is the first time on the 500 line has gone down like this here for the 30 years its been sitting here. Its a new experience for us, too. It takes a lot of effort and stuff with the steel. Its not like a wood structure. With all of these pieces, its like a big erector set that needs to be put in, put together and assembled.

Critical repairs should be finished by the weekend of February 6. The line will be returned to service then. Another outage will be needed later to repair the overhead ground wire and more damage to the steel structures.

The Leland Olds Station-to-Groton, South Dakota, line was also damaged in the storm, though it remains in service. An aerial line patrol on January 30 revealed bent static peaks that need to be repaired.

(Kringstad): We expected the worst. We had frost covering a three, four county area. This is minimal damage. We couldve had a lot more. This was we were lucky on this one here. Youve got to give these guys a bunch of kudos for being out here assembling this stuff. Yeah, thats their job, but theyre putting in an extra effort to get this back up for us.

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[Runnr4life745]

This occupation looks like a pain but very interesting. And I understand the pay is good. How do you get into something like this? Should I just jump into lineman school or get a 2 year degree in industrial electrical. Anything would help. Thanks

[pc2drth]

@Runnr4life745 TSM’s minimum requirement for a journeyman lineman is the completion of an accredited lineman program similar to that of Bismarck State College or Mitchell Technical Institute and the completion of a 4-yr apprenticeship program. While additional training in the electrical field is beneficial, it is not required. At Basin Electric, will also receive 80 hrs of live line training annually in addition to HV Switchman training, training to obtain a CDL and rigging/signal man training.

[CARTER4526]

Wow, not many people have the drive to do that. These guys are fantastic yet we hardly see them or hear about them. You linesneb folks, thanks and good work!

[Rangerbelt]

Great to have dedicated linemem who will work on terrible conditions to keep the power flowing.

[ND58]

Clayton, you ARE "the man"