It’s time for them to retire. 90-year old power poles in Henderson Bay to be replaced

A drastic change on the horizon of Henderson Bay is about to happen after four, old metal electric towers are retired and one new, shiny metal tower takes their place.

Tacoma Power, with support of the Peninsula Light Co., will be removing the original four power poles near the Purdy bridge starting at the end of July and will install a new tower that will be more stable and efficient in providing power to and from residents across the water.

James Blessing, the project manager with Tacoma Power, has been working on replacing old electric towers and power structures across the Puget Sound as a part of the company’s “Energize Tacoma” project.

“They are 92 years old and have reached their useful life,” Blessing said. “The original function was to send power from our hydro-generation at Cushman Lake to Tacoma. Currently, we do use it for that facility, but also Peninsula Light Company feeds their customers from those lines as well.”

Blessing said the old towers are decrepit and not as stable as the power company would like.

Tacoma has operated and maintained the lines since they were installed in 1926. Blessings says it has taken Tacoma Power more than 10 years to replace crossing lines, starting with the Narrows Crossing in 2003. Tacoma Power also replaced a crossing in North Bay in 2013.

“These projects take years for us to plan, permit and construct,” Blessings said. “We started the process for this project almost five years ago.”

What residents should expect

Large barges and a 200-foot-tall crane will decorate the Purdy crossing for four months starting at the end of July.

“We currently have a barge out there,” Blessings said. “Crane barges will come in on the 30th of July. They should begin construction on the 31st.”

All together, eight structures will be removed from the Purdy and Key Peninsula area. The four, 100-foot-tall structures will be replaced with one 200-foot steel pole, and four land towers near the water will be replaced with steel poles, too.

Tacoma Power workers will be on the water from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., meaning there will be delays on state Route 302 and Goodrich Drive. There also will be limits to boating, fishing and beach activity on the Purdy Spit while workers are in the area.

To begin, the wires will be carefully removed with a crane and moved one at a time onto a temporary crane structure, keeping power supplied to residents during the project. Blessings said residents should not expect disruption of power during the project.

“We have to maintain one line energized at a time to keep power,” Blessings said.

The temporary piling that will keep power lines supplied will be placed in Burley Lagoon.

Chris Gleason, spokeswoman for Tacoma Power, said the project will be visually interesting.

“We’ll be posting pictures of what’s happening, so if people want to know what we’re doing, they can see that,” Gleason said. “But as you can imagine with a big crane out there and people working, there may be some distractions.”

Gleason and Blessings are hoping residents will remember to keep their eyes on the road and not become distracted by the work.

Gleason said 30,000 Peninsula Light Company customers are served by the power lines on the old towers.

In the past few months Tacoma Power workers have put anti-bird spikes and nets on top of the towers to keep ospreys and other large birds from nesting on the towers. Blessings said the project could not move forward if birds decided to make the towers their homes, as they have done in the past.