Low-flying helicopter to assist VEA in Pahrump area

Valley Electric Association contractors plan to perform maintenance on transmission line poles, work that will require a helicopter this coming Sunday, weather permitting, the VEA announced.

The work requires a helicopter to fly low near neighborhoods to access the lines.

VEA Operations Manager James Andresen said the repairs would start at 8 a.m. and run through 4 p.m.

“They will be working on the line section from Gamebird Switch Station down Thousandaire Boulevard to the Charleston Substation,” he said in a statement released by the VEA.

“Once that section is complete they will move to the Pahrump Substation (on Industrial Road above Highway 160) then to the Vista Substation (on the North side of town) and from there to the Johnnie line section for a quick inspection and repairs if needed,” he said.

Andresen said that the contractors plan to be working on 138-kilovolt transmission lines.

For the repairs on the poles, the helicopter will hover next to each pole for about five minutes while the lineman works on the pole.

“The lineman will work off a skid (a small platform for the lineman to sit on),” Andresen said.

Service to members will be unaffected by the maintenance on the lines, the VEA statement said.

Performing the work by helicopter saves time and money, Andresen said.

The helicopter crews will inspect more than a hundred poles in a day and will perform maintenance on a selected 30-40 poles, the VEA said.