A new truck shed and a transmission line project are in full swing as September begins in Windom and crews are looking to finish as soon as possible.
The transmission line project, which seeks to replace the two main power feeds to Windom, is the bigger project. Windom Electric Superintendent Jason Sykora reported that it can potentially finish in October. The planning for this major project started back in 2019 and it is a $3.5 million project.
“The line might be energized sometime in September,” Sykora said, “but clean up and restoration will probably still be going on in October.”
There will be a steel structure placed near the railroad tracks by the United Prairie Bank just off Highway 60-71 in town by 16th Street. Sykora said that crews from Tennessee came recently to drill a huge hole for a pier that will be filled with concrete and supply a base. It will take about two weeks for the concrete to cure before anything can be set there.
Crews have also been putting up many huge laminate poles which are stronger than the round wood ones and must be placed where the line has a curve or has a stress point.
The monster laminated poles are 91 feet tall and each weighs 27,000 pounds. They are almost rectangular in shape and are made of many pieces of wood glued and laminated together.
For more details on this story, please see the Sept. 6 edition of the Citizen.
