Western Power crews have begun work to replace more than 500 power poles in the Northampton region in mid-west WA, as part of a record $5 million investment in the area.
Mid-West Regional Manager Adrian Stewart said an intensive work program had been scheduled for March and April to get through the work in a time-frame to best suit local farmers.
“We planned the work around the harvesting cycle and before winter rain softens paddocks. We aim to finish before seeding starts and have as little impact on farmers as possible.
“This is the largest pole replacement program in the region for more than ten years.
“Trucks will start rolling this week with as many as 10 crews working on any one day using cranes and cherry pickers to deliver one of the largest pole replacement programs undertaken here,” he said.
A lot of planning has occurred to reduce the number of times each customer is affected by a power interruption.
“We’ve mapped out the work and on some days we plan to replace as many as sixty poles in a day to reduce the number of times property owners experience an outage.
“We’ve written to everyone who will or may be affected and let customers know if we have to access their property to replace poles.
“Interruptions have been scheduled to have the least impact on customers as possible, though we recognise any interruptions can be an inconvenience and thank people in advance for their patience.
“Where possible we will use generators to maintain power supplies to some power lines and therefore reduce the number of customers who experience power interruptions,” Mr Stewart said.
The work will improve the safety and reliability of the network.
