Idaho’s Lineman College to offer its expertise in Kabul
Monday, August 18, 2008 10:30 AM PDT
MERIDIAN (AP) — An instructor for Northwest Lineman College in southwest Idaho plans to teach workers in Afghanistan how to erect transmission towers by hand without the aid of cranes or helicopters.
Mike Hennesey, who runs the Meridian-based Northwest Lineman College’s campus in Oroville, Calif., said he’s headed for Afghanistan in six weeks.
‘‘It’s my opportunity to go and do something for my country,’’ Hennesey told the Idaho Statesman. ‘‘It’s a golden opportunity to put wrenches in their hands instead of machine guns.’’
Northwest Lineman College was selected in November by the construction firm Symbion Power LLC to provide training on a project to build a modern power system in Afghanistan feeding the capital city of Kabul.
Hennesey said the challenge will be putting up transmission towers in a country where modern equipment isn’t available.
‘‘We don’t build them by hand in the United States,’’ said Hennesey.
He said cranes usually aren’t available in Kabul, partly because when they break down there aren’t the parts or people to repair them. Hennesey has practiced building transmission towers by hand with crews to prepare him for the work in Afghanistan, but it wasn’t easy finding information.
‘‘All we could find was pictures from back in the 1950s,’’ he said. ‘‘I couldn’t get anything current.’’
Aaron Howell, president of Northwest Lineman College, said having the college help in Afghanistan is ‘‘doing the right thing.’’
He said the U.S. is trying to help stabilize the country through civil reconstruction projects. Only about 6 percent of Afghanistan has electricity, according to some estimates.
Howell and Hennesey visited Kabul in January, discovering how few tools were available for construction projects.
‘‘They have some hammers,’’ Hennesey said. ‘‘A lot of their tools are broken or way outdated.’’
Missing, he said, was basic safety equipment, such as hard hats, safety goggles, gloves and shoes.
‘‘A lot of what we’ll be doing is showing them a safe way (to build), so there’s less fatalities and less injuries,’’ Hennesey said.
The company has put together about $40,000 in donated safety gear and tools, said Anne King, utility training services operations manager at the college.
‘‘Companies stepped up and made donations,’’ Hennesey said. ‘‘It allows us to have the opportunity to bring (Afghanistan) into the new age.’’
