Learn the special story of the construction of powerline in the Alaska wilderness and the people who built it. Find us on Facebook: / wilsonconstructionco More more information, visit www.wilsonconst.com
I come across this every now and again. I often stop and watch it, wishing I were a younger man and could have had a part. I bet they saw things nobody else will ever see.
Eggggggg Zackly I hate drama reality shows. Shit there's plenty of this on a daily basis with our own lives. If I watch a documentary,I do so to be informed educated and how man and woman build the world . I miss the ole discovery and Tlc from the early 90's.
@@Utubin There is plenty of alternative learning documentary channels on YT... All you have to do is look for them. Darkdocs, if you like war and mystery.
@@Eargesplitten-Loudenboomer True, but that is also a problem, for me anyways. Mark Felton productions is where I go for anything history. He keeps it short, but VERY educational.
I am a 30 year ARMY Helicopter pilot. I've done some crazy stuff in my career. But this is way out of the box. Congrats to Wilson for making the video. And a congrats to all the crews that flew the helos… and the crews that stepped on them!!
That scene with the sock line pilot in the blue chopper doing the pull through with the "needle" made my butt pucker. "Ferocious concentration" may be the understatement of the decade.
What an adventure. Great narration by Mike Falconer. And no rotten music ruining a fantastic video. Good no serious accident. PS, once, our squad, two at a time, were extracted by riding on the Loach skids like that in the land where Puff the Magic Dragon frolicked. Thanks for showing. The best documentary I've seen.
I smiled from ear to ear when that old Navy Tender was restored for service in this group. I LOVE seeing retired military equipment repurposed for other uses. It's a huge exercise in resource conservation, and it's almost poetic in a way. Military equipment being used for peaceful, even humanitarian, reasons. :)
I love the IDEAL of it but ultimately it’s used as a way to back door a few of the “gray area” ones until that slope gets slippery enough for what we currently have landsliding our way. Lots of great thoughts tut into…. something terrifying. Uncomfortable example: Our Great Nation. Yep. I said it. Yep. I stand by it.
deereboy8400 agreed SO much information and SO clearly communicated I. Perfect order and condensed to minimal time!! Couldn have learned more in less time !!!
Im a distribution lineman, but it never ceases to amaze me the places and areas that transmission lines travel through....its truly a feat of engineering and hard work when u take the time to actually see how far and where these lines actually go....just something to think about when u turn on ur lights next time (especially if u live in an extremely rural area such as this)
Building these power lines looks like it was done on the roughest terrain in the most miserable weather conditions. Respect to all of those responsible for this build, you certainly earned your money on this one.
Now that im 62 and a layman in everything I find these projects fascinating. I have a profound respect for the ingenuity and skill that went into this. Proud to be an American.
One of THE best documentaries I have EVER watched. Not to mention that the video and sound were perfect. Now that is how it SHOULD be done. My sincere thanks to whom engineered this documentary.
Found this video quite by accident. Absolutely fascinating. Just the logistics alone is daunting. Having to deal with bureaucracy and government BS just makes it near impossible, if not frustrating. THEN there's dealing with and overcoming the Alaskan weather and wilderness. Amazing job and amazing documentation. Great video.
In a world chock full of screw ups, it's nice to see competence and drive to do things right...I'm a remodeling contractor for 3 decades...I get stressed over a kitchen remodel...:)...As you stated; the logistics staggers me...
@Marc Johansson Having grown up as a young boy on a homestead in Alaska, moving elsewhere with the military, then spending the last 50 years in California... I have an appreciation for the comparative environments that these guys could have been facing. In Alaska, they worked together for a viable solution; in California the forces in control here will find a way to stop nearly any project! It's a pitiful state of affairs that shows no signs of improving.
Some would say "Aw no way I could do all this one handed". If you really understand (as you do Capn Pete) it's mind boggling complex and even more difficult.
I saw the swath cleared and wondered ...how? That is some amazing(not a big enough word) engineering. All that to bring power to a little burg on the strait. Doesn't matter that it doesn't "pay". It's like space travel, you do it because you can. The payoff is that it can be done. I've seen some power line work with helos along cook inlet when I was visiting there. A light touch and ferocious concentration. This guy is such a good narrator. Hey kids, do like to do bad ass stuff? Like to rock climb? Do crazy stuff with your bike? Check into this kind of work. If you fear mosquitoes well, that might be a problem . The great weather portended the climate change(maybe short lived OK?) that we are still enduring in 2020.
I used to work for Washington State's DNR (Department of Natural Resources) and it was part of my job to keep those access/service roads clear. I've since gone to school for Computer Science and Engineering and tbh, I really want to just get into electrical work on one of these helicopters. I would love doing stuff like this, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DPNK7bc2qvM.html
Haha - you're wrong. They just sent Buckin' Billy Ray Smith in there with his son and he finished all of that before lunchtime. In the afternoon he came back in Myrtle, rattling up the ol' loggin road and then he bucked everything up before sundown with the Wood Bullet.
Sadly I have to admit.... I've been passing over this video for several years since I first noticed it on RU-vid. My apologies to you ALL!! This was a well presented and awesome presentation of a daunting task. I've been around logging, sawmills, hydro-electric sites, and refineries all my life.... and now kicking myself for not watching sooner!!! "Stay Home, Stay Safe" does have some benefits! Y'all be safe out there! Best wishes to all in these challenging times! Skagit Ed
Absolutely crazy, those helicopter pilots, the linemen, and the whole crew overall..including "we'll make a chair for you to sit in, while you pull the repair piece in place, and make the splices", as someone who has worked a bit in this industry, although not a scale anywhere near what these guys are doing in this, it is mind-blowing they were able to complete this without several accidents happening..and that is just planning and dedication and teamwork.
As a former heavy engineer I can appreciate every last drop of sweat, determination and nut and bolt that went into this project. An outstanding job and I don't care what those guys earn, it isn't enough, to bring energy to so many. Great vid.
To be fair thats a pretty fucking awesome thing to be able to do, I would have volunteered for that too. Maybe a bunch of people wanted to do it and he just got lucky?
Watching this, shaking my head in amazement! Rick, balls of steel! The rest of the crew, I cannot imagine the hard, dangerous and dedicated tasks all of you did! I salute every single one of you! We that flip a switch assume the power will ALWAYS be there and without all of you folks in this industry, well you know........................Many Thanks!
This was one of the best docs I have seen in years. I wanted more at the end haha. Came away with a great appreciation of this dangerous work and the amazing skill of the lineman and especially the PILOTS who never cease to amaze me at how easy they make those prolonged hovers look✊🏻🍻
I fucking love documentaries like this. Simple, to the point. Absolutely NO dramatic filler, staged or choreographed nonsense. No overdramatizing the situation or exaggerating the insanity of it. Just straight to the point with solid imagery and narration. Enjoyed it a lot. Documentary I watched other day would have played up the tension of the men approaching in the helicopter, played a ringing alarm in cockpit as a near death escape. Presenting the laying of the first pole as a momentous occasion. ETC. hahah
A very excellent documentary. This documentary had no contrived emergencies, no last minute pending disasters, you know the routine. Very good and straightforward.
What a flood of memories! Camaraderie never rusts! Kyle is hard as nails, but you ve got to be tough when you lead from the front! Under his leadership this project was completed ahead of schedule and with out any incident or injury. The weather for the 9 days of the sky crane was a decent break but everything else was a due to proper job planning and hard work. Rest in peace KO and beck
KO was an inspector. He has since passed away. Beck was a pilot, who has also passed away since this project. Ghost rider was another pilot that worked on this project. He has also passed away.
@@TheNWSCOTT CONFUSING! Al Joseph, My former husband whom passed away was a building contractor in New Iberia Louisiana his name was Allison (Al)Joseph Delahoussaye. I pray his identity is not being used💔
I do not remember how I got started watching this video. But man, what a group of STUDLY MEN!! Made me proud to be an American to see this mammoth and dangerous scale of work so professionally an ably completed. Just damn!!!
Truly impressive project documentary. If only my public education had been as informative, interesting, comprehensive and pragmatic. Nice work Wilson Construction.
VERY nicely said, not to mention the fabulous absence of 'doom and gloom drama' . I would watch anything this guy, Mike Falconer, narrated . :--)))))))))))
No truer words ever spoken - compare to a Discovery Channel production..."OMG! THE FEAR! THE POTENTIAL OF DEATH WITH EACH BREATH!!!! ...WHEW! Well they made it THAT time....BUT WAIT! MORE (unnecessary) DRAMA COMING UP AFTER THESE MESSAGES!!!"
Awesome documentary ! Congratulations to Wilson Construction for finishing AHEAD of schedule and doing so perfectly with no accidents nor injuries and all the while being above compliant with regards to environmental parameters ! A Great American Company ! Warmest Regards from Arizona
This felt like an old 70s and earlier teaching/instruction video. I thought it was gonna be boring but I watched the whole thing in enjoyment. Great job!
Awesome Job !!! I am glad to have been part of that project !!!!........From Kyle thru all the lineman and the Wilson Helicopter Mechanics crew the best you can find in the market !!! Fantastic Memory !!!!
andrea, my having some many years ago worked out in the isolated interiors of the Nullarbor Plains in Australia, tells me that in jobs of this kind only the best people were chosen by Wilson Construction to climb aboard this lifetime experience of waiting to commence their skills by each of these well-chosen people. Full credit to the huge crew that accomplished this task of great magnitude. Full credit to Wilson Construction Company for their sharp eye on safety at all times.
Wow! 🤯 mind officially BLOWN! I lived in Valdez, Anchorage, and Fairbanks as a kid in the 70’s; my father worked on the Alaska pipeline. I always thought that was a complex and incredible engineering problem, but this!!! Wow🤯🤯🤯🤯 Great documentary!
That ship is such an awesome setup. A few barges with tons of equipment and helicopters, two pads on the top of the ship with a machine shop located inside! Owning that ship would be a dream, you could go anywhere and operate.
watching that hellicopter pilot thread and pull that line all the way across the route is freaking mind boggling....I am dumb founded at the skill that pilot must have....
Sirmellowman ageeed! Was commenting above one of my best friends did this kind of stuff, he was a retired military pilot starting out in blackhawks, then a short stint in AH64's and then moving to the Little Birds and US Special Forces insertion and close air support. He did it 9 years inserting small SOF teams into insanely dangerous circumstances and then proving close air support with twin Hard mounted mini guns . He left the military and special forces insertion to do private military contract support work, troop insertion and extradition , close air support etc but after 4 years and a mission that ended up nearly having him have to put the bird down over enemy isis controlled territory and having a wife (another best friend of mine) and 3 daughters , the money wasn't worth it. He left and started work doing power line maintenance in rural southern utah and all over Wyoming. He LOvED it and 2 of his crewmen were actually ex military , one was SOF that did close air support form helicopter proving sniper cover form little birds and blackhawks so he felt at home and made an awesome 6 figure income in a relatively SAFE environment. We got a call one day 4 years ago that his radio went dead suddenly and nothing else was known. No sos and no signal showing up on ATC radar. 5.5 hours later they were able to get a medical helicopter out there for a worse case scenario and form miles away saw black smoke from a distance a mile into the sky which indicated burning fuel. They aren't sure what happened because everything instantly fused out and shut down but believe becaue of that he hit a power line. He was working in a canyon for his first time there in southern utah known for its crazy winds and updrafts and think he had a sting updraft while having a maintenance worker strapped in and thenthr pdraft blew out as he was was lowering the helix causing a sudden drop in the helicopter putting it onto of the lines and 120' tot he earth. The serviceman was still strapped into the service chair is why they think that's the case. We miss him and for someone that flew an unbelieveable about of time doing medivac , Troop inshe writing dn ewcovery, close air support and and ultimately US special Forces teMminsertion, extrAction and close air support we were all shocked his life can to an end Doing power line maintenance!? So sad for Lara his amazing wife and their 3 kids. She struggles with it every day becaue she pressured him to leave the military and SOF operations becaue of danger and he made it a very short time doing a "safer" heli-job. We've all tried to tell her her reaction and encouragement to leave was soenthing g ABYONE would have done but she has HD the hardest time and suffered SO much guilt! Really sad. His funeral was amazing, there were 7 HUGE bearded Alpha males they showed up that were crazy intimidating and turned out they were active SOF they had been extracted by josh from life threatening circumstances. One of them told a story of josh bringing in the little bird down into a tiny opening in a grove of trees not much larger diameter than the rotors , to pick up a wounded Green beret and it was ona steep mountainside under taliban fire in Afghanistan. He couldn't land it was so steep and they were worried the rotors would hit the mountainside but josh got it close enough and held it steady for the wounded Berret to mount . When they took off he did 2 green gun runs for those SOF on the ground still making sure he left them a good advantage and on the way back the beret noticed a bullet hole in the glass and asked josh and the copilot about it andjosh said it was nothing and jsut to rest and they'd be back shortly . When he got to base they were putting the SOF on a stretcher and noticed the copilot waving his arms for help, he told the medical personal to stop and sat up and noticed josh was hunched over the stick. They told him it would be taken care of and to relax but feeing such a debt to josh for his insane skilled pickup hillside and ina. Good ovenof treees where he would have be bled out or been killed by the enemy he couldn't leave him hunched over like that waiting for another medical crew so he rolled off the stretcher and said to go pick up josh , they were sonworried sbout this SOF member they tried to get him back on and he grabbed the stretcher and sre ted ya king itnovet himself to thelittle birth. This SOF member was the one that lifted Joshua uncouncsious body out of the pilots seat down to the stretcher , he did it with 6 ak47 bullet wounds to the right thigh, capve, stomach and chest. Josh had been hit in the chest jsut inside his shoulder not far from he heart and imhis kungs wet dfilling with blood but he was so worried about getting his brothers to safety and keeping them from going I to shock that he lied and said he was fine when he was actually bleading out and internally and told the copilot he may black or and to grab the stick if so and make sure this SOF specialist gets home. Was an amazing story to hear and to see this guy who looked invincible and the toughest looking man I've ever seen shed tears telling The story , it had the entire funeral in tears. He took a patch of some dirt and put it on the coffin graveside , not sure what it was but was touching . My point is your comment was perfect and to answer thenskill of these pilots , they are often ex military spicialists and that's often where the skill comes in. Many of the heli-mounted linemen are as well. Skill MOsT can't comprehend!
What a an incredible testament to the engineering, design, and execution of the companies involved. The flying was also unbelievable, and not to mention no-one was injured in the entire job (as far as was shown, anyway). I had no idea as to the complexity it took to plan & install power lines in these remote locations.
This was a pretty cool watch. With 20 years of distribution lineman experience and 5 as a design engineer on hwy projects the logistics of a project this large start to finish were nothing but amazing . Cheers to everyone involved
Was it entirely sure how this landed at my feet I wasn't looking for anything like this but I decided to watch it and I am insanely impressed by the craftsmanship the intelligent thinking and the level of experience that everyone has on that project
32:11 Balls of f'ing steel... Everything about that situation wants to snag that needle... The entire project was one hell of an operation. Every man (and woman) on the job played an important role in keeping that well oiled machine purring like a kitten. Bravo people.
History Channel and Discovery Channel should take note, This is how an informational documentary should be. I miss the old style documentaries without all the snazzy music and camera angles and effects. Repeating the same information every 5 minutes. I loved this. Very interesting and easy to watch. 👍👍👍
I was out back talking to a lineman that was replacing a blown line fuse and transformer fuse and he ended uo recommending me this video after we talked about my interest in this type of stuff. It people like him that are making todays youngsters, the people that are going to keep this world running. He deserves all of the thanks in the world. Props to you sir
Wow! True American ingenuity at its finest and what a huge accomplishment! You guys are true American hero’s and you make this country great! Keep up the awesome work!
Excelente vídeo, aquí no sólo se puede apreciar el profesionalismo sino también el orgullo de hacer ése trabajo difícil y de transformar lo complicado en simple ,y se logra aplicando organización, compañerismo y voluntad. Saludos desde Argentina.
I am a retired US Military Blackhawk Pilot (26+ years, I also have 10+ years of flying EMS single pilot. I do have time flying longline. With this said, My hat is off to these Pilots. There is NO WAY I would ever attempt to do what they do. The skill and concentration and precision required is crazy dangerous. Fly safe guys. I am professionally officially retired. No more fricken check rides for this fella. Fly safe and I really hope they pay you all that you are worth! I wouldnt give it a second thought to do what they do for less than $180,000 a year. .
My job required me to ride in the back of Blackhawks for a few years. Much respect and gratitude for the incredible pilots that got us in and out of situations safely and with mad skills. Excellent pilots with nerves of steel and balls of titanium never left us hanging with our d#%ks swinging in the wind. I can honestly say I’m alive today because of one of those pilots. Against orders he came back to get me rather than leave me to die alone without my mates. I will always be grateful for all of the days I’ve had since that day.
As a substation/transmission estimator I would LOVE to see the data behind the amount of time in estimating and the numbers on this project, man hours, costs of each labor type, mobilization costs, margins, management structure, logistics, etc. The data from this project is priceless.
Very impressive for sure. And the ultra achievement of finishing ahead of schedule is only surpassed by the cooks that fed these men. I would suspect that the chefs knew the entire crew by name by the end of the second year. I imagine that there were a few injuries here and there, but nothing serious, or the narrator would have mentioned it. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Wow im honestly impressed with how informative and direct this video is.. Really great film making! You guys should look into doing documentaries on the side apparently haha
