ITC Midwest installs new C.R. transmission lines
Thursday, Aug 05, 2010
CEDAR RAPIDS Wondering why crews are erecting large steel power poles in northwest and southwest Cedar Rapids?Think reliability.
ITC Midwest is rebuilding and upgrading an existing high voltage power transmission line from the Sixth Street Substation in downtown Cedar Rapids to the Beverly Substation near Highway 30. Crews from HydakerWheatlake Co. of Reed City, Mich., are performing the work under contract to ITC Midwest.
The existing power line, which is 40 to 50 years old, carries 34,500 volts, but the new power line will transport 161,000 volts to the industrial corridor in southwest Cedar Rapids. The galvanized steel poles, ranging from 75 feet to 130 feet in height, are considerably taller than the existing wood poles and are expected to provide more reliability, according to Tom Peterson, a spokesman for ITC Midwest.
'Most of the existing poles will be removed, but some of them may remain for Alliant Energy to hook onto the new line,' Peterson said.
'We've been working on the project for about six weeks and expect to have everything completed and cleaned up by the end of the year.' Peterson said the power line crosses the Cedar River and runs along L Avenue NW through the Time Check neighborhood to 18th Street NW.
The line turns south at that point and runs along 18th Street to the Beverly Substation near General Mills.
'This is part of the investment that we're making in the community to improve reliability,' Peterson said. 'We held a meeting with neighbors at Jefferson High School last year and we've sent letters to neighbors along the line route.
'This is a key component in creating a stronger backbone to prevent the problems that we encountered during the February 2007 ice storm.' The Beverly-Sixth Street power transmission line is the first link in a loop of 161,000-volt lines that will give energy managers the ability to reroute electricity through the city if a portion of a line is damaged or goes out of service.
Cedar Rapids-based ITC Midwest bought the transmission assets of Alliant Energy's Interstate Power & Light subsidiary in 2007.
Source: i-Stock Analyst
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