Why Nova Scotia Power needs a helicopter to install these towers
Utility says the new towers at the Strait of Canso are too high to install with a crane
New transmission towers being built at the Strait of Canso as part of the Maritime Link project will be so tall that Nova Scotia Power will need a helicopter to help install them.
The first phase of construction can be completed with a crane, but a helicopter will be used to install the top of the towers, which will be more than 160 metres tall.
The towers will run between Aulds Cove on the mainland side and Troy in Cape Breton.
These towers will be the largest in Nova Scotia Power's fleet. The current transmission towers at the site measure just over 120 metres in height.
"It's an exciting project for our team and certainly I'm sure the community will be interested to see those towers take shape over the coming months," said Nova Scotia Power spokesperson Tiffany Chase.
The three new transmission towers will be located on each side of the Strait. They will be used to transport electricity from the Maritime Link, and can also be used as backups when there are outages in the area.
The $1.7-billion Maritime Link will bring electricity harnessed from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador to Nova Scotia.
The reason why the new towers are taller is that they must meet new, stricter CSA standards, said Chase.
Chase said the new lines would have been useful last weekend when a number of lightning storms hit the province and Cape Breton.
"One particular lightning strike was powerful enough to split one of our power poles down the middle and did require us to create a longer-term outage of several hours in the Canso area so we could make those repairs," she said.
She said once the new transmission lines are up and running, it will be easier for the utility to restore power quicker by switching to the backup lines.
The lights on top of the current transmission towers will eventually be moved to the new towers to alert planes in the area.
Chase said the construction is not expected to affect traffic in the area and the towers should be finished sometime in December.