No Roads? No Problem!
When a small dynamic communications company found themselves unable to reach some of their new remote sites in the north-west of Western Australia, HeliSpirit was there to save the day. Constructing communications towers across the remote north-west delivers state of the art satellite communications to remote mine sites, homesteads and communities. For most sites, the company can drive to, despite the rough conditions and lack of good roads. The Pilbara and Kimberley regions, however, present some of the most inaccessible and harsh conditions for anyone to work in. And when the four-wheel drives could go no further, the HeliSpirit helicopters swept into action to make light work of the task.
Precision lifting of the 12 meter towers from their laydown site at the nearest track, the Bell Longranger, with one of our highly experienced ‘long-line’ pilots at the controls, gently brought the tower from horizontal, to vertical and then continued upwards. Having first delivered half of their assembly team into the selected position atop a nearby hill, the helicopter and it’s delicate slung-load easily rose skywards, to the selected site, and gently delivered the base of the tower down to the waiting crew.
In the dry rocky ground, the team had already established anchor points for the tower via a great deal of sweaty digging, the pounding of sledgehammers and the wonder of quick-set cement. With the tower at the site, it was just a matter of rigging the guide-wires, pugging in the solar cells to the panels and testing the unit.
The versatility and capability of the HeliSpirit helicopter in the hands of a seasoned professional, turned a massive logistical hurdle into a simple one day job for the communications company. Flying four crew and all their required equipment up to the hilltop, then returning for the tower and completing the construction all went exceptionally smoothly. Using the helicopter to expedite transport over inhospitable terrain, makes perfect sense in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions where HeliSpirit have continued to deliver first rate services, for more than 30 years.