After storms in April 2020 caused widespread damage to South Alabama Electric's system, the cooperative sent out the call for help from other cooperatives. The extra workers from across the state were more than welcome, and some of those crews also brought additional equipment that sped up repairs significantly.
SAEC crews watched as visiting lineworkers used a skid steer to remove a fallen tree in minutes that would have taken hours to haul off piece by piece. Being able to clear the roads faster meant crews could get to work on the lines and have the lights back on sooner than they could have otherwise.
“It sounds simple, but it’s a big problem when it’s hard to get where you need to go,” Construction Superintendent Wendell Stephens says. “We saw them using that equipment and wanted to take advantage of some of that quickness.”
Today, SAEC has its own skid steer and a mini excavator that can not only speed up outage repairs in the wake of storms, but are helping crews pick up the pace while installing underground lines in multiple subdivisions around Troy.
Digging Deep
Currently, SAEC has 3 construction projects where underground utilities are required, including both the primary conductor and the service line that connects individual homes to the electric system.
Underground lines make for nicer-looking neighborhoods, and they also provide an added degree of reliability. Most power outages are caused by falling trees, limbs or wildlife on the lines. With underground utilities, lines are protected from the most common disruptions.
However, that protection comes at the cost of extra time and effort when it comes to installation.
“Overhead lines are real simple. You pull the wire in, put it in what we call a dead-end shoe, and tie it down with a couple of nuts and bolts,” Manager of Engineering and Operations Ronald Wade says. “Underground lines are a lot more time consuming because you have to dig a trench. But you’re also installing pad-mounted equipment, so the area has to be dug out and leveled.”
The new skid steer’s trencher attachment will help speed that process up tremendously. It also has a bucket attachment to quickly move large quantities of dirt while underground lines are being installed. For digging those trenches on a curve, such as at the end of a cul-de-sac, the cooperative also purchased its own mini excavator.
“It’s basically the difference between what we can get done with a shovel versus what we can get done with a machine,” Stephens says. “Anything that can help us get people’s lights on in a reasonable time we’ll do, and this is a lot faster than doing it with a shovel.”
Ready to Work
The trencher and bucket attachments are just two of seven accessories for the skid steer, making it extremely versatile. For those long nights of storm repairs, SAEC bought a grapple attachment that will allow crews to grab and move fallen trees, helping them clear lines and roads to restore power more efficiently.The skid steer also has separate auger and pole setter attachments that are useful for replacing fallen or damaged power poles on tricky terrain.
“Recently, we had an outage where a pole was broken but the ground was wet and the digger derrick truck couldn’t get to it without getting stuck,” Wade says. “So we used the skid steer with the pole setter and the auger to change that pole out.”
In addition, sweeper and bush hog attachments will help keep SAEC’s facilities clear of debris, saving the cooperative money.
“With the new facility we have a lot of asphalt and concrete areas where the trucks blow sand and dirt while driving in and out,” Wade says. “We also have out-lying areas around the office that are not maintained on a weekly basis and need to be bush hogged. So we can use that attachment rather than hiring somebody to do that.”
With so many tools available all in one piece of machinery, SAEC crews will be equipped to tackle challenges out on the lines or around the cooperative’s facility more efficiently than ever before. And just as importantly, SAEC will now be able to move ahead on projects at its own pace rather than waiting for similar equipment to be available to rent.
“We initially had to rent a trencher or mini excavator to dig the trenches for the underground primaries, and it just became inefficient,” Wade says. “We had to make sure one was available to rent, and it was slower going because every time they got one our guys had to relearn a little bit. Now we can schedule work as we need to do things.”