Implementation of 'Helicopter-UAV' Collaborative Aerial Hoisting Operations

On May 16, manned helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) collaborative transportation and hoisting operations were successfully carried out at the construction site of the 110kV Qiancang Power Line Project undertaken by State Grid Jinhua Power Supply Company. At the operation site, H215 medium-sized helicopters worked in perfect coordination with heavy-lift UAVs to accurately hoist materials required for foundation construction, including reinforcement cages, sand and gravel materials, and construction equipment to tower positions in mountainous areas. This marks phased progress achieved in mechanized construction and eco-environment-friendly coordinated transportation for power transmission lines in the complex mountainous regions of the project.

This demonstration operation covered Tower #17 to Tower #23 of the project. The area sits at an altitude ranging from 250 meters to 400 meters, with no accessible construction roads along the route and rugged terrain. Some tower sites are located within ecological and water source protection zones, resulting in great construction difficulties and stringent requirements for ecological and water environment protection. Traditional methods, such as building temporary roads and erecting cableways, entail high costs and often damage forest vegetation and aquatic ecosystems.

In response to such conditions, the project adopts the core philosophy of aerospace collaboration, precision and efficiency, safety and low carbon, and establishes a full-process collaborative construction system integrating manned helicopters and heavy-lift UAVs to fully support engineering material transportation. During this operation, heavy-lift UAVs are mainly used to deliver foundation construction materials weighing less than 200 kilograms, including cement, sand and gravel, anchor bolts and construction tools. H215 helicopters are tasked with hoisting heavy materials over 200 kilograms, such as reinforcement cages and materials for foundation concrete pouring. Diverse collaborative modes are applied: flexible delivery of light and small supplies by UAVs, efficient hoisting of heavy cargo by helicopters, and standby UAV transportation when helicopters are grounded. This approach effectively addresses the major construction challenges in mountainous tower areas, including difficult material delivery, strict environmental regulations, and high operational risks.

This project actively explores green design, mechanized transportation, streamlined construction and refined cost management. By cutting down the demand for temporary roads and cableway construction, it effectively reduces deforestation and surface disturbance, and greatly improves the construction efficiency and safety management of mountain power transmission line projects. The project sets clear goals: shorten the construction period by over 20%, raise construction efficiency by 30%, achieve zero felling of temporarily occupied forest land, full outward transportation of surplus earth, and a 100% pass rate for ecological and water environment protection acceptance.

Going forward, State Grid Jinhua Power Supply Company will continuously summarize experience in manned-unmanned aerial collaborative transportation for foundation construction. Such operation mode will be gradually extended to tower material delivery, stringing construction and other working procedures. The company will further optimize the mechanized construction organization mode for mountain power line projects, so as to provide replicable and promotable practical models for power grid construction in complex terrains and ecologically sensitive areas.

(Reporters: Liu Jianchao, Tao Cong)