Housatonic River Crossing Replacement: Transmission Line Deconstruction Gets Creative

Aging infrastructure is a critical issue for utilities, and for The United Illuminating Company, it has led to the need to replace the two 115 kV transmission circuits attached to the Metro-North Railroad structures. Rebuilding a high voltage river crossing is daunting by itself, but add in removing the existing wires from 100-year-old 200-foot tall towers built over one of the busiest commuter railroads in America next to a heavily traveled interstate highway bridge, and you must get creative. After almost two years of planning, the major stakeholders finally agreed that the solution would consist of two parts: the removal of the conductors on the north side would be performed using a helicopter, and the removal of the conductor on the south side would be performed by shifting three lanes of high-speed traffic to make room for a 180-foot-tall man-lift on the deck of the Moses Wheeler Bridge (I-95). The removals were completed ahead of schedule and without any safety issues.