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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Helicopter working over South Hill bluff; some trails closed

A helicopter hauls materials for an Avista transmission line project over the South Hill bluff on Oct. 23, 2017. (Rich Landers)
A helicopter hauls materials for an Avista transmission line project over the South Hill bluff on Oct. 23, 2017. (Rich Landers)

TRAILS -- It's a perfect day for flying, which means some of the popular trails on Spokane's South Hill bluff are closed today through most of Tuesday as a helicopter working for Avista hauls materials for a transmission line rebuild project.

The helicopter is flying the transmission line corridor and all South Hill bluff trails that cross the corridor from Avista’s Sunset substation off Highway 195 to 57th Avenue and Hatch Road are closed until about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Here are more details on the project from Avista.

The helicopter is being used to minimize impacts to the bluff as transmission poles are placed and removed. Avista is rebuilding 2.75 miles of the transmission line along the lower South Hill bluff that serves portions of the South Hill and Spokane Valley and supports downtown Spokane. This is the second year of a two-year project that will improve service reliability and safety, meet the growing energy needs of customers and improve line efficiency.

The rebuild of the transmission line includes reducing the number of structures and poles by replacing 1940s-era wooden poles, which are past their expected life, with taller wood-equivalent steel poles and installing more efficient power lines and equipment. The project is expected to be completed in November.



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

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