In December, 2011, Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) used a contracted helicopter to remove cut trees from a riverside construction zone along the Hockanum River. The work was part of a 2.7 mile transmission line upgrade which included the installation of steel monopoles to carry a new 345 kilovolt line. The intent is to improve reliability and reinforce the transmission grid in southern New England.

While the helicopter activity is the visual "draw" here, this was just a part of a much larger operation on the ground, which is also represented here. The work involved a heavy wooden roadway, which couldn't be used in flooded areas, and significant numbers of downed trees, the result of a freak Halloween snowstorm which tumbled trees of all sizes throughout the Northeast. The scale of the overall operation, and what the ground workers as well as the helicopter crew were up against, can be seen in many of these photos.

Following are pictures of the activity on the New State Road trail, just east of the Howell Cheney Technical High School. Click on any of these icons to "walk" through the gallery of pictures. All photos are by Jeff Feldmann.