A LiDAR image of transmission lines was acquired by helicopter.
Merrick & Company announced a new service offering for the power transmission industry. In response to a North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) alert released late last year requiring power transmission line owners to document the existing conditions of their transmission assets, Merrick is providing helicopter-mounted light detection and ranging (LiDAR)/imaging multisensor data acquisition and processing for power line owners throughout the United States.
Helicopter-mounted multisensor systems provide greater accuracy in capturing the details of such issues in transmission corridors as power line sag, vegetation encroachment and structure information”some of the many components of in-field condition and clearance assessments. In addition, the ability of helicopters to tightly maneuver over transmission corridors, regardless of terrain, provides a cost-effective and speedier method of collecting the data vs. traditional land surveying or fixed-wing aircraft data collection.
We're seeing an increasing demand for these types of services as line owners and operators work toward complying with NERC's requirements, said Merrick's Torin Haskell, GISP. And helicopter-mounted, multisensor data acquisition platforms have clearly become the data collection method of choice.
NERC's mission is to ensure the reliability of the North American bulk power system and is certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish and enforce reliability standards.
Merrick & Company, a $125 million geospatial, engineering, architecture, design-build and surveying firm, serves domestic and international clients by providing geospatial technologies, products and services for the sustainable infrastructure, energy and national security markets. Merrick maintains 10 U.S. offices, as well as two offices in Mexico and an office in Canada.
Image courtesy of Merrick & Company.
