Crews keep transmission structures high and dry

When the LOS-to-Watertown transmission line running from the Leland Olds Station near Stanton, ND, to Watertown, SD, was built in the 1970s, the land was bone dry. That has changed with time. Today, that same stretch of land, which runs 283 miles and includes 1,370 towers, is soaked and many of the transmission structures are standing in water.

One of the towers along the LOS-to-Watertown line stands in water before the foundations are extended.

Dave Tokach, designer III, says one of the biggest concerns with that is during the winter months, ice forms around and through the structure. “The movement of the ice bends and breaks the steel,” he says.

That’s why crews are extending the concrete foundations to protect the structures in deep enough water to put them at risk.

The same tower after work is complete. It includes a road to the structure, rock riprap to prevent erosion, extended foundations, and new steel on the structure legs.

Tokach says dirt is pushed out toward the structure to form a road to it. Fill dirt is also placed around the structure and protected from erosion with riprap. He says all the work is done without taking the line out of service.

Crews began on this ongoing project in 1999, when structures started to be affected by water.