(WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com) — The Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission Company (MAIT) utilized helicopters equipped with blades to trim trees in Warren County over the past two weeks.
MAIT, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, set out to clean up overgrown trees and maintain electrical clearances along transmission line corridors in Erie, Crawford and Warren counties.
This trimming helps prevent winter-related tree issues, such as branches falling onto wires due to heavy snowfall. Maintaining trimming along these lines helps reduce the amount of tree-related power outages that occur, especially with severe weather.
The aerial saws trimmed trees along the sides of 66 miles of four high-voltage transmission lines including:
- A 115-kilovolt (kV) line that begins in Youngsville, Warren County and ends just north of Route 20 (Buffalo Road) in Wesleyville, Erie County
- A 115-kV line in Crawford County starting east of Cochranton off Franklin Pike and following the road to Meadville
- A 115-kV line in Erie County starting just south of Interstate 90 on the east end of Erie and running north to Wesleyville
- A 115-kV line in Crawford County starting in Meadville near Morgan Village Road and running south to Williamson Road then west to Cochranton
The use of an ariel saw is meant to be a faster, safer alternative to man-powered labor. The saw can, typically, cover more area than a ground crew. It also eliminates the risk of injury to workers.
Head over to the First Energy YouTube channel to see the saws in action.
