BETTENDORF, Iowa — Maybe you drive, walk or bike to work each day — but how about getting there and then hanging from a helicopter?
Almost every year, MidAmerican Energy contracts a specially trained helicopter team to help maintain its transmission lines in the Quad Cities.
On Monday, Jan. 29, the team brought workers 250 feet off the ground to complete work on transmission towers.
"They actually have a rope that hangs from the belly of the helicopter, and they will allow linemen to get off on the tower," MidAmerican field operations manager Andrew McNamara explained.
"All of this is rated to handle ice, wind, whatever throws at it, and that's why we keep maintaining it, so that it can handle that weather," McNamara said.
MidAmerican has over 6,000 miles of transmission lines across Iowa. Crews said work on those lines will wrap up within the next two weeks.
One particular tower they were working on was on Fenno Road in Bettendorf, just east of Arconic.
"That tower is on an island by itself, so to get there by foot, we would have to take a boat over there and then climb the tower. With the helicopter, it only takes 30 seconds," McNamara said.
The team's tasks included surveying the transmission lines and setting up ground crews to more easily replace them. "[They] put the existing wire in a traveler which is like a big dolly, and that will allow the line crews to eventually pull that wire down to the ground and replace it with a new wire," McNamara explained.
The maintenance also includes checking marker balls, which are on the transmission lines to help aircraft see them, ensuring air traffic remains safe.
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