Williston-to-Tioga transmission line construction

The lay down yard for the Williston to Tioga transmission line is soaked in mid-June. Work is slowed-up for another day.

(Mark Winn): "Oh, I would say rain has affected us probably three days out of every week, between the rain and the wind. ... And it's usually in the middle of the week, not on the weekends."

Today, all that can be done is accept more material. These spools hold two-and-a-quarter miles of conductor each. Each spool weighs 20,000 pounds. Too heavy for the trucks to enter the lay down yard -- and too heavy to take it where it will be used.

(Mark Winn): "The right-of-way's been wet and we don't want to tear it up and make bad feelings with the landowners."

Mark Winn is the construction coordinator for the 230-kilovolt line. All the towers will be steel structures. The line will run 61 miles. Permits came in at the beginning of May.

(Mark Winn): "With the material yards being tied to the project, we couldn't receive anything until our permit was approved. That slowed deliveries down, and now we're just trying to catch up."

Winn says in addition to weather trouble, they haven't been receiving their tower materials in sequence.

(Mark Winn): "Whenever you have to move back, you have to pay the contractor mobilization to go back and do it, to go back and pick up the skips in the sequence. So you really want to start from the beginning and just progress right through." (Tracie): "It's most efficient that way." (Mark): "Yes."

Sequence is important because some towers need to be taller than others. Some are on the tops of hills -- some are at the bottom.

(Mark Winn): "The terrain at the beginning and at the end of the job is not ideal, it's pretty rough and there's a lot of gas lines, a lot of utilities there."

But Winn says once the weather clears up, the crews will work six days a week to get the job done. The line is scheduled to be delivering power by the start of 2011. The line is needed to serve ever increasing loads in western North Dakota.

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