Have you seen those new towers now going up on Hindmarsh Drive?
They are pretty hard to miss.
Most of them will be more than 20-metres high, some more than 30-metres high.
And, eventually, there will be 29 towers, mostly along Hindmarsh Drive and Canberra Avenue, en route to Queanbeyan, as well as the Monaro Highway.
Evoenergy is installing new electricity transmission lines for the Department of Defence to "meet the forecasted electricity demand for HMAS Harman and the surrounding area".
"Evoenergy is currently constructing the 3.6 kilometre-long transmission lines from the Monaro Highway, Hindmarsh Drive and Canberra Avenue to HMAS Harman," a spokesperson for Evoenergy said.
The transmission lines "include 29 poles and all works are within the Australian Capital Territory".
HMAS Harman, a Royal Australian Navy base that serves as a communications and logistics facility, is located at the border, in Jerrabomberra.
An environmental impact statement for the transmission line by GHD last September said "a significant investment in Australia's cyber security capabilities is planned for HMAS Harman" which sparked the need for the additional power.
The transmission line alignment extends from the East Lake-Gilmore transmission line at the Monaro Highway to Harman via the southern road reserves of Hindmarsh Drive and Canberra Avenue
Maps show 14 of the towers will be positioned on Canberra Avenue, east of the Newcastle Street intersection. Another eight will be on Hindmarsh Drive, to the Monaro Highway intersection. The others are on the western side of the Monaro Highway. They have span lengths of between 120m and 210m.
The GHD report said in response "to environment and heritage considerations, the pole type selected has the lowest footprint possible for the transmission line type".
"In addition, environmental features, including bird deterrents are to be included to modify perching behaviour and reduce potential for fauna mortality," it read.
