Much of the United States energy system predates the turn of the 20th century. According to the ASCE’s 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, most electric transmission and distribution lines were constructed in the 1950’s and 1960’s with a 50-year life expectancy, and the more than 640,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in the lower 48 states’ power grids are at full capacity.  By 2030, the electric utility industry in the U. S. will need to make an investment in infrastructure in excess of two trillion dollars.

This aging infrastructure is susceptible to the weather, fatigue, and corrosion and just recently a number of electrical transmission static and conductor arms have failed due to weld connection cracking during installation and while in service.  

Maintenance of transmission and distribution structures is critical to the reliability of utilities electrical grids and the uninterrupted delivery of power to their customers.
Routine inspections are critical to the longevity of structures and can help locate and address issues before they become critical, or a structure failure occurs.  RES' experienced team is ready to assist utilities nationwide with their inspection and maintenance programs.

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RES is also able to provide aerial visual inspections with our fleet of drones. Our drones have radiometric thermal capabilities allowing us to see hotspots on insulators and arrestors on power lines. Detecting these issues early on will help prevent catastrophic issues and future power outages. 

From qualification of new vendors, review of welding procedures and specifications, in-plant quality assurance, field inspections, structure repairs and much more, RES is ready to help assure the reliability of your system and make outages and service interruptions a thing of the past.