Hydro-Québec helicopter to fly over Les Cèdres

Over the next few days, a Hydro-Québec helicopter will be flying low over the Municipality of Les Cèdres, in particular the Lucerne and Haut-Chamberry areas, to carry out thermographic inspections of its power transport lines.

The purpose of the inspection is to identify and replace certain transmission line components that, over time, are more likely to cause service interruptions due to failure.

With a thermal imaging camera mounted in front of the helicopter, Hydro-Québec crews fly over the targeted areas to detect hot spots leaking from the network of high-voltage lines. "Inspections are carried out in winter, because the cold outside makes it easier to detect escaping heat. Depending on the intensity of the heat, it tells us that something needs to be checked and repaired. All the images taken by the thermal camera are then analyzed to determine what needs to be repaired," explains Julie Daigneault, Community Relations Advisor at Hydro-Québec.

Across the province, 34,000 kilometers of transmission lines need to be inspected to ensure the quality of the network. "These inspections are part of our action plan to improve the quality and reliability of our transmission and distribution network," adds Ms. Daigneault.