Tower of strength

Shift work: 3CSSB members unload SES tarpaulins to be distributed to Innisfail and surrounding communities as temporary roofing for cyclone-damaged houses. Photo by Cpl Rachel Ingram

By Maj Matt Grant
Volume 11, No. 40, April 6, 2006

WHILE athletes were powerlifting for gold in Melbourne, 5 Avn Regt aircrew completed an unusual lift of their own to help the cyclone-affected north.

Their Chinook lifted a 32m-high, four-tonne Powerlink Queensland steel lattice transmission tower and transported it to the stricken town of Babinda, north of Innisfail.

Powerlink Queensland Chief Operating Officer Simon Bartlett said the tower was essential equipment to help enable bulk electricity supply to be restored to the Innisfail region.

“The ADF transported the steel tower more than 200km from Townsville in less than two hours, avoiding delays that would otherwise have been caused by road transport and having to navigate around flooded rivers,” Mr Bartlett said.

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