United Energy helicopters scanning powerlines over Dandenong, Springvale, Carrum Downs
Helicopters are scanning powerlines across Dandenong, Springvale and Carrum Downs over the next week, as part of United Energy’s year-round bushfire mitigation and vegetation management program.
People may see and hear the choppers, which fly about 300 metres above the ground and use technology known as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to scan the distance between tree branches and powerlines.
Using the LiDAR data, United Energy teams create 3D models of powerlines and their surroundings, helping to inform what vegetation needs to be cut.
United Energy’s Head of Vegetation Management, Ayce Cordy, said it was important that accurate measurements were taken of all vegetation each and every year.
“Inspecting and managing vegetation growing near powerlines is an essential part of how we keep power safe and reliable for our customers,” Mr Cordy said.
“By capturing data every year, we can track growth rates of vegetation across our network, helping us plan where to cut right now and when we may need to conduct cutting in the future.”
The helicopters are operating over Dandenong, Springvale, Carrum Downs and Rowville over the next week.
Each year United Energy uses a fleet of three helicopters to inspect 100 per cent of more than 13,000 kilometres of powerlines across Melbourne’s east, south east and the Mornington Peninsula.
How our cutting program works
Our trained cutting teams can enter private property to cut trees back from powerlines, and also work on public land across our network.
Our teams need to meet clearance requirements that are regulated by Victoria’s energy safety regulator, Energy Safe Victoria (ESV).
Larger clearance areas are required in areas of higher bushfire risk.
For private property, our teams notify customers of cutting required at their address, complete the required pruning work then return to remove debris.
When urgent cutting is identified, we aren’t always able to provide advance notice.
The helicopter fleet
One Bell 407 helicopter
Crew: One Pilot and one LiDAR System Operator per aircraft
Top speed: 260km/h
Range: 870km
Aircraft length: 12.62m
Aircraft height: 3.33m
LiDAR system: RIEGL VUX-240
Slow cruise speed for LiDAR capture: 129km/h
LiDAR scan speed: 1.8MHz and 400 lines per second
Data capture: 1TB per day
Two Bell 505 helicopters
Crew: One Pilot and one LiDAR System Operator per aircraft
Top speed: 232km/h
Range: 617km
Aircraft length: 12.93m
Aircraft height: 3.25m
LiDAR system: RIEGL VUX-240
Slow cruise speed for LiDAR capture: 129km/h
LiDAR scan speed: 1.8MHz and 400 lines per second
Data capture: 1TB per aircraft per day