Customer Stories

TRANSFORMING THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS overview The American Great Plains is known for its wide open spaces, views that can stretch for miles and lines of electrical poles that seem to run straight into the horizon. But before these poles and wires go up, the lines must first be designed and staked – a process that demands fast, accurate and easy-to-use positioning in remote locations. Location KANSAS For RMA Engineering LLC, a Kansas-based company specializing in the design and staking of electrical lines for rural electric cooperatives, the goal of every project is the same: straight lines. "At the end of the job, we want the poles so straight that when you line up and look down the row, all you see is the first pole," says J.P. Metzler, PE, a civil engineer with RMA Engineering. But having a straight line of poles is about more than aesthetics, it's also critical to the structural stability of the entire utility system. "The straighter the poles, the stronger the line will be, which makes the whole system more resistant to strong winds or ice and snow deposits," explains Metzler. To get that critical straight line of poles, RMA Engineering depends on Trimble RTX ® . WELL-SUITED FOR STAKING Trimble RTX leverages data from a global network of tracking stations and advanced modeling algorithms to generate correction data for real-time precise GNSS positioning. These corrections are broadcast to the roving GNSS receiver via a set of geostationary satellites or over the internet, which the receiver uses to significantly improve the accuracy of its GNSS positions. It is this use of satellites that makes the system particularly well-suited for RMA's work in rural areas that offer unobstructed views of the sky. Crews use Trimble RTX to obtain both the horizontal position measurements needed to space the poles correctly and to check elevations so they can choose the right-sized pole. According to Metzler, using the wrong-sized pole could cause the conductor to pull the pole out of the ground or put enough pressure on the cross arm to cause it to break. "This vertical measurement doesn't require survey-grade elevation," he says. "We just need a relative elevation based off our last pole so we can adjust the location or size of the pole." By knowing their current positioning accuracy in both the horizontal and vertical components, crews always know they are setting the stakes in the proper location and with the required level of accuracy. "The system is so intuitive and easy to learn that our crews enjoy using it," says Metzler. RMA's crews enjoy using Trimble RTX in the field

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