Trees bordering the right-of-way corridor will develop lateral branch growth toward the power lines and into the ROW. If left uncontrolled, branches can cause power outages and make it difficult for repair crews to work during restoration efforts. Momentary contact with the power line will cause a temporary fault, resulting in a power “blink” that resets your clocks.
- CVEC controls lateral tree growth by “side-walling” on a 10-year cycle through a number of methods.
- Traditionally, side-walling is performed with mechanical cutters that move along the right-of-way. Manual trimming is impractical and is both time consuming and dangerous.
- A second method is aerial trimming, performed by a helicopter that follows the tree line and trims the lateral branch growth with rotary blades. This method is very effective, particularly in the mountains and over water.