.jpg)
A helicopter is to be used to transport components for power transmission line towers that are to be erected alongside U.S. 501 between the Balcony Falls substation at Glasgow and Amherst County. The new towers are to replace existing ones that are nearly 100 years old as part of a modernization project of the utility infrastructure.
The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 27 approved three special exception permits for Dominion Energy Virginia to have a transmission pole staging/ assembly area and a heliport at a site on the east side of River Road (Va. 663), approximately 1.58 miles west of the southern intersection of River Road and Glasgow Highway (U.S. 501). The site is part of a 69.14-acre tract of land owned by Keith W. and Penny G. Holland.
The three special exception permits are for the public utilities staging/assembly area itself, the heliport and storage of materials and equipment in a fl ood hazard area. A condition of the last of these permits is to have an emergency evacuation plan in place to implement quickly in the event of a flood warning being issued.
Once the project begins, a helicopter will be making multiple daily trips between the heliport and the areas where the towers are to be installed. A condition attached to the permits states that the installation project must begin by Oct. 15, 2024, and be completed by April 15, 2025.
