TRANSMISSION LINE ROUTING & TOWER

SPOTTING USING MODERN STATE OF THE ART

TECHNOLOGY

PRESENTED BY:
MS TRUDY R. GANENDRA

GROUND DATA SOLUTIONS R&D SDN BHD

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

• INTRODUCTION

• PROBLEMS WITH CONVENTIONAL TRANSMISSION

ROUTE ALIGNMENT DESIGN

• ADVANTAGES OF TRANSMISSION LINE DESIGNS

USING AIRBORNE LiDAR DATA AND PLS-CAD

• CONCLUSION

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
 WHAT IS LIDAR?

• LiDAR - Light Detection And Ranging

• Airborne LiDAR systems require integration of three main

technologies:
1. Laser ranging sensor
2. Attitude reference
Y-Axis X-Axis
(Right) (Forward)
3. Positioning reference

• LiDAR systems are mounted on Z-Axis

(Down)
aircraft and may emit between
30,000 to 250,000 pulses per second
 WHAT IS LIDAR? (Cont.)

• ADVANTAGES OF LIDAR:

Accurately measure ground levels directly

Captured high resolution images at the same time

Produce high-density and high accuracy data

Highly suitable for planning and design work

• There are several types of LIDAR system available worldwide

and for this 275 kV Ulu Jelai – Tapah & 500kV Tapah – Bentong
Transmission Line Projectproject, DVG-Helix was used, a
system which was designed, built and operated by Ground
Data Solutions R&D Sdn Bhd. (GDS) a Malaysia company in
partnership with LiDAR Services International (LSI) of Canada
CONVENTIONAL AND WAVEFORM LiDAR RETURNS MEASUREMENT

CONVENTIONAL LASER
SCANNING RETURN: WAVEFORM LASER
Sensor dead time causes SCANNING RETURN:
last return to be missed. All returns digitized
Echo data is reduced to
one amplitude and time
 WHAT IS PLS-CADD?

• PLS-CADD - Power Line System- Computer Aided

Design and Drafting

• Most powerful overhead power design program which

can match the sophisticated engineering capabilities

• PLS-CADD integrates all aspects of line design into a

single stand alone program with a simple, logical and
consistent interface
 PROJECT DESCRIPTION
275kV Ulu Jelai(Cameron Highlands) to Tapah &
500kV from Tapah to Bentong

• Corridor: Approximately 230 km long and 0.5km wide

• Data acquisition: 11days (16th May 2008, from 24th to 28th August
2008 and from 7th to 13th October 2008)

• Terrain conditions: oil palm plantation, rubber plantation, dense

forest, open areas, urban areas, vegetable farms, flat and
mountainous terrain

• Environment conditions: cloudy and foggy at certain times during

the day

• DVG-Helix LiDAR system was installed in a Jet Ranger Bell206B3

helicopter

• Data was acquired at 400m (Riegl LMS Q560) and 250m (Riegl LMS
Q240) above ground level for up to 5 hours a day
ADVANTAGES OF USING
AIRBORNE LiDAR DATA &
PLS-CADD
 ADVANTAGES OF USING
AIRBORNE LiDAR DATA & PLS-CADD (Cont.)

• Topography and digital imagery

collected for 500m width corridor in
2 months compared to conventional
land survey taking about a year, but
only for width of 60m & without
imagery

• Satellite or aerial photogrammetry

has cloud cover, is difficult to
acquire new data & too inaccurate
for design

• Only LiDAR technology is able to

map in 3D the catenaries of existing Laser scanning survey in wide
transmission lines which are crucial coverage area
elements in tower spotting
 ADVANTAGES OF USING
AIRBORNE LiDAR DATA & PLS-CADD (Cont.)

• Very hilly, heavily vegetated

and difficult to access areas
are problematic for land
surveyors but do not affect
DVG-Helix survey

• Additional imagery provide

more information for design Structure modeling
evaluation

• Data fully digital and highly

adaptable for different uses,
formats & transformation
models

• DVG-Helix is a modular LiDAR

system with optimum
configuration for project &
continuous upgrade of system
with newest sensors
 ADVANTAGES OF USING
AIRBORNE LiDAR DATA & PLS-CADD (Cont.)

Three Dimensional Engineering model from PLS-CADD

• The integration of DVG-Helix data with PLS_CADD design software provides the
ability to investigate project cost, construction time, earthworks, environmental &
social impacts very quickly

• PLS-CADD provides automatic production of reports, materials list and plan & profile
sheets

• DVG-Helix is fast & flexible with PLS-CADD, hence, re-alignment of the proposed
transmission line can be completed with little effect on the project schedule
PROBLEMS WITH CONVENTIONAL TRANSMISSION
ROUTE ALIGNMENT DESIGN
PROBLEMS WITH CONVENTIONAL TRANSMISSION
ROUTE ALIGNMENT DESIGN

• River crossing
• Existing transmission line crossing
• Hilly terrain
• ROW/Cadastral issues
PROBLEMS WITH CONVENTIONAL TRANSMISSION
ROUTE ALIGNMENT DESIGN (CONT.)

CASE STUDY 1:
RIVER
New AP11
selected using CROSSING
LiDAR

New AP11 selected • The location of

using LiDAR and
AP11 was found
PLSCADD
unsuitable during
ground survey works
AP11 selected
using conventional
method • This cost can be
avoided if the location
was identified using
LiDAR
AP11 selected using
conventional method
PROBLEMS WITH CONVENTIONAL TRANSMISSION
ROUTE ALIGNMENT DESIGN (CONT.)

CASE STUDY 2:
INDENTIFICATION
Existing OF CROSSINGS
132kV top
Proposed new
275kV
conductor • Conventional method
height Existing cannot identify the best
transmission
tower 132kV location for Angle Point
transmission
where the proposed
tower
alignment crosses existing
Existing
132kV transmission lines
transmission Existing 132kV
tower transmission line • LiDAR has the ability to
bottom conductor
identify existing
height
Proposed new transmission lines and
275kV other crossings which are
transmission
crucial elements in tower
tower
spotting, thus reduces
project cost and time
PROBLEMS WITH CONVENTIONAL TRANSMISSION
ROUTE ALIGNMENT DESIGN (CONT.)

CASE STUDY 3:
HILLY TERRAIN
Failing tower due
to location of
AP27
• Special towers are
unfavourable due to
their excessive cost and
Failing tower construction difficulties
due to location
AP 27 located at of AP27
valley causes • LiDAR enables 3D
the use of viewing of the terrain,
special tower
leading to quick and
easy tower spotting by
Failing repositioning Angle
tower Points and selecting
Failing suitable routes
3D view of tower
location of
AP 27
CONCLUSION
 CONCLUSION

• Tower spotting using PLS-CADD utilizing LiDAR survey data provides

more flexibility and efficiency in transmission line route selection
hence produces the optimum route selection in terms of cost and time

• LiDAR was also shown to cost less than Land Survey while providing
much more information in terms of area, density of measurements and
feature identification

• LiDAR cannot replace Land Survey, as a licensed land surveyor is

required for monumentation and land acquisition before construction
but using LiDAR for route selection can have substantial savings on
the cost of the project

• Satellite, Radar and Aerial Photogrammetry can be cheaper than

LiDAR, especially when recent archive data is available but they are
not accurate enough for detailed analysis so they are only suitable for
macro studies
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to thank Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Dato’ Nik Nasruddin

Mahmood, Ground Data Solutions R&D Sdn Bhd, LiDAR Services
International Inc and Minconsult Sdn Bhd.
Special thanks to staffs of Power Plant & Renewable Energy
Division and Ground Data Solutions R&D Sdn Bhd, specially
Rahim Malik, Mohd Oulul Agazami, Rajiv Kumar
and Renuga Subramanam for their contribution in the
preparation of this paper
 THANK YOU

GROUND DATA SOLUTIONS R&D SDN BHD