The S-64F helicopter, carrying a 13-millimeter-diameter wire rope, sets off from Cezi Island and heads for Jintang Island in Dinghai district, Zhoushan, on Nov 9. [Photo/ dhnews.zjol.com] 

For the first time anywhere in the world, a helicopter was able to conduct wire stringing across the sea in Zhoushan on Nov 9, with an S-64 F helicopter doing so between the two 380-meter-high power transmission towers at Cezi Island and Jintang Island in Dinghai district. 

The S-64F helicopter, designed by Erickson, a globally renowned aircraft manufacturer from the United States, stretches 27.9 meters long and has a hoisting weight of up to 11.3 metric tons. 

The wire rope that the helicopter carried for the construction of the power lines between the two pylons is 13 millimeter in diameter and stretches 4.193 kilometers across the over-2,600-meter Xihoumen Channel. 

"The wire stringing work across Xihoumen is the largest and hardest part of the 500-kilovolt power transmission task, and is also the key to its completion," said a manager involved in the project, which marks a milestone for China's power engineering endeavors.

Workers help to load the wire rope to the helicopter at the construction site. [Photo/ dhnews.zjol.com]

The helicopter carrying the wire rope arrives at Jintang Island in Dinghai district, Zhoushan, on Nov 9. [Photo/ dhnews.zjol.com]