Near Grenoble, RTE teams are removing 10 kilometers of high-voltage lines that have become obsolete. The opportunity for the electricity transmission company to show its know-how and at the same time, to train its technicians.
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RTE is carrying out two large-scale projects in Saint-Quentin-sur-Isère to dismantle a 10-kilometer portion of high-voltage lines that have become obsolete, including an ancestral technique, almost 100 years old.
For two hours, the helicopter did not stop flying this Wednesday morning above the Domaine de Charmeil golf course. To dismantle high voltage lines, the transport and electricity network (RTE) has used aerial technology for more than 70 years, mainly for its speed: “Today we are on a golf course so we cannot afford to create a runway to bring a large crane. So the helicopter allows us to avoid creating developments and therefore preserve the environment,” explains Stéphane Duval, the director of RTE helicopter services and works.
The helicopter is responsible for recovering portions of the pylon, a job carried out using ropes. The pilot only has a few minutes to maneuver, a precise flight for the 20 meter long machine: “We can lift up to 4.7 tonnes and indeed, we need a large machine to do that. We can do it without a helicopter, but it will take time,” explains Olri Guillot, the pilot of RTE helicopter services and works.
On the ground, other technicians try a more ancestral technique: that of the farmhouse, long abandoned by RTE: “The elders were talking about it, but here we see it in real life, it's concrete. There was apprehension on my side, we did preparation with elders who had already worked on this technique, but the reality on the ground is always very different”tells us Laurent Almendros, RTE technical coordinator.
This technique consists of suspending a metal structure along a pylon connected to a pulley allowing dismantling piece by piece. A two-week operation and numerous calculations to succeed: “It's a lot of mathematics and we're more 'manuals' than 'offices'”jokes Laurent.
Like him, 15 people discovered the technique on this site “école” : “It is necessary from time to time to go to areas that are very inaccessible. In this case, the mast is a technique that allows this. The idea is that these 15 people, little by little, manage to disseminate this knowledge, so today's learners will be tomorrow's knowledgeable people. concludes Fabrice Lafaurie, director of the Dauphiné RTE network maintenance group.
The dismantling of this portion is part of a larger project, which consists of removing the 106 pylons of the electricity line which connects Verney to Froges, in Isère.
