A team of Coleraine based 'live line' engineers from Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), recently took delivery of a specialised vehicle, which is used to work on overhead lines when they are still live.

The three-man team drove away with their new Unimog U400 Insulated Aerial Device (IAD), a vehicle that enables them to carry out work on overhead electricity lines, which are live at 11,000 volts. The new vehicle helps NIE keep the North coast and North West power lines live during network maintenance reducing the number of customer outages on the electricity network.

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The team, Wilbert Smith from Cloughmills, Ian Campbell from Limavady and Kieran Quigley from Derry are extremely pleased with their new vehicle. They said that due to the specialised off road capabilities of this machine it was invaluable during the recent snowstorms for repairing lines. They explained: "A unique feature of this vehicle is that the tyres centrally deflate at the flick of a button. This provides the machine with enhanced ground traction, which is vital for some of the difficult, and soft ground conditions we have to access. The insulated boom provides us with insulation from ground and the working bucket rises to 14 metres allowing us to work on live lines. It is also eco friendly and runs on rechargeable batteries when we are in the working bucket, cutting down on diesel emissions and also reducing engine sound so as we can communicate better with each other which is important for our own safety."

(CD/H)