11
May/June 2019
|
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
SCHOOL REOPENS THANKS TO QUICK REMOVAL
When a large cottonwood tree fell on the bridge to Happy
Valley Elementary School in Santa Cruz, California, crews
from the Davey Tree Surgery Company's PG&E Southern
Coast account worked through the night to remove it so
the students could return to school.
Not only did the tree block the bridge to the school, but
it also landed on the powerlines – cutting off the school's
power. But the students only ended up missing one day of
school thanks to the quick work of the Davey crews who
removed the tree and PG&E's efforts to restore the power.
"The students probably weren't happy that we removed it
quickly," said Martin Bribiesbas, foreman.
The roughly 80-foot cottonwood tree fell due to strong
winds and saturated soils from heavy rain, said Eduardo
Franco, foreman.
When the tree fell, it brought down the electrical wires and
the guy wires on the utility poles were holding most of the
tension, Franco said. The tree also did damage to the guard
rail of the bridge.
"We do this all the time. When the lines are down it's pretty
easy for us," Bribiesbas said. "But we didn't want to do
more damage to the bridge than the tree had already."
MISSION
PG&E had to ground the lines before the crews could start
the removal. The crews surveyed the worksite for any
obstacles that would complicate the removal before getting
started, Franco said. The crews had to take the tree out in
small pieces to see how it affected the tension on the guy
wires, as they didn't want the tension to suddenly release
and send a portion of the tree flying.
"The communication was really important. That and keeping
an eye on each other to make sure if we saw something
that didn't look right, that we said something," Franco said.
"We had to be alert with every single move we made
because it was a big tree."
After the tree was removed, the crews had more storm
work to complete.
"It was one of those days where we did multiple locations,"
Franco said. "This one was the toughest one throughout
the night."
Eduardo Franco estimated the tree to be about 80 feet tall with
a diameter of roughly 40 inches. Franco said in the morning they started
to notice the parents coming to drop their kids off at school, but the
school had to close for the day while they worked to remove the tree
and restore power. Photos courtesy of Happy Valley Elementary School.
