CHEC working
against time to install
permanent power poles at Pea Island Inlet
By
IRENE NOLAN
Cape
Hatteras Electric Cooperative is working against time, tides, and
Mother Nature to move its temporary power poles at Pea Island Inlet to
permanent structures, farther from the eroding shoreline.
After
Hurricane Irene cut the new inlet five miles north of Rodanthe, CHEC
erected temporary power poles on the north and south sides to restore
electricity over its lines from the north.
Susan
Flythe, general manager of CHEC, said work began last week on the
permanent poles to take the lines over the inlet.
The
temporary poles, Flythe said, stretched 400 feet over the
inlet. The new poles will carry the lines over 700 feet.
“We were
just buying time with the temporary poles,” Flythe said.
Tides
and wave action from frequent north and northeast winds have continued
to erode the south side of the inlet, and the poles have continued to
get closer to the water.
The
National Weather Service office in Newport, N.C., is forecasting
another coastal storm for tomorrow into Saturday.
Forecasters
expect gale force winds, especially late Friday into
Saturday.
The culprit, the NWS says, will be a developing low moving off the
southeast North Carolina coast late Friday. The low will move
out
Friday night and Saturday as strong high press build in from the north,
resulting in a pressure gradient that will produce strong northerly
winds over the coastal waters with seas building into the 12- to
14-foot range, if not higher.
Forecasters
this afternoon were looking at the possibility of issuing a wind
advisory for the coast with the potential for some coastal flooding.
In
preparation, CHEC has placed another 45 sandbags around the temporary
lines this week, while crews for contractors erect the permanent poles.
The 95-foot
steel permanent poles, Flythe said, will be encased in 28-foot concrete
caissons, sunk 24 feet into the ground.
They
will be located west of the temporary poles and behind the sheet piling
installed on each side of the inlet by the North Carolina Department of
Transportation during its installation of a temporary bridge.
The
transmission lines on the new poles should be up and running by week
after next, Flythe said.
The
plan calls for the island – and Ocracoke – to return to generator power
for three to five days, beginning next Tuesday, while the lines are
moving to the new poles.
The
power company says customers in Buxton, Avon, Rodanthe, Waves, and
Salvo can expect a planned 30-minute power outage from 5 to 5:30 a.m.
Tuesday morning, Nov. 8, ahead of the shift to the generators.
Until
permanent power is restored to the island, CHEC is advising its
customers to do what they can to conserve electricity.
Permanent
structures to run the high voltage power line over the Mid-Pea Island
Inlet are under construction.
Lee
Electrical began work this week erecting new concrete and metal poles
that will allow the line to stretch 700-feet from each side of the
inlet.
Susan
Flythe, general manager of Cape Hatteras Electrical Co-op, says the
work will put the poles behind the sheet piling used to protect each
end of the temporary bridge. The work will take about two and a half
weeks to complete.
Flythe
says full power will continue through the line, but both Hatteras and
Ocracoke islands will have to switch to generator power for a short
period to allow for the final switch over to the permanent poles. No
date has been set for the switch.
