Keeping Colville connected
We’ve moved power poles and lines in a remote rural area of the Coromandel Peninsula as a landslip threatened the area’s power supply.
Following Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, a helicopter fly-over of the remote rural 11kV power line south-west of Colville identified a large landslip on steep farmland off Colville Road.
The landslip was through the middle of two power poles. Power supply wasn’t affected, but there was a risk that if the poles and lines weren’t re-routed, they could have been affected in a future wet weather event, which could have meant outages for the Colville area.
Engineers assessed the slip and while the immediate risk of the poles slipping was considered low, the poles and lines the work was completed to move the poles and lines in early May 2023.
The poles have been replaced with one pole only, on a nearby site that is less likely to be disturbed by the landslip. A helicopter was needed for this work because of access issues.
To keep crews safe while the work was being carried out, a seven-hour long planned power outage was needed for 15 customers. With no option to backfeed power supply, a large generator was used to keep around 350 Colville area customers connected while the work took place.
Following Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, a helicopter fly-over of the remote rural 11kV power line south-west of Colville identified a large landslip on steep farmland off Colville Road.
The landslip was through the middle of two power poles. Power supply wasn’t affected, but there was a risk that if the poles and lines weren’t re-routed, they could have been affected in a future wet weather event, which could have meant outages for the Colville area.
Engineers assessed the slip and while the immediate risk of the poles slipping was considered low, the poles and lines the work was completed to move the poles and lines in early May 2023.
The poles have been replaced with one pole only, on a nearby site that is less likely to be disturbed by the landslip. A helicopter was needed for this work because of access issues.
To keep crews safe while the work was being carried out, a seven-hour long planned power outage was needed for 15 customers. With no option to backfeed power supply, a large generator was used to keep around 350 Colville area customers connected while the work took place.
The landslip going through the middle of two power poles.
Work underway on the remote Colville Rd site.