No one injured after Manitoba Hydro tower collapses on Bipole III line in Manitoba

A Manitoba Hydro tower on Bipole III has collapsed, the sixth such collapse in two and a half years.

Hydro says it discovered the newly built tower had collapsed during an inspection of towers on the N4 section of the Bipoleline near Overflowing Riverlast Wednesday.

• Manitoba Hydro tower collapse 'frightening' for workers
• 5 Manitoba Hydro transmission towers collapse during assembly

The collapse was caused byhuman error, said ScottPowell, a Manitoba Hydro spokesperson.

Powell said there was a missing cotter pin on one of the assemblies, which are held up by guy-wires a.k.a tensioned cables.He said that missing pin,along with improper guy-wire tension, allowed a nut to work itself loose during some extremely high winds, which caused the collapse.

He added that the tower had been up for less than 10 days and that the tower's contractor will replace it and pay for the materials needed for a new build.

CBC reported last year that five towers had collapsedin 2017 due to human error. That prompted the union that represents some of Hydro's electrical workers to ask for a full investigation into the matter.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2034 said it wasn't aware of the latest collapse and has asked Hydro for details.

• Condolences pour in as Forbes Bros. confirms 2 employees killed in transmission tower collapse

Powell said tower collapses are rare and said the six that have come down are out of the more than3,000 that have been built over the last two and a half years.

A spokesperson for Workplace Safety and Health saidRokstad Powernotified them,and no workers were on site at the time of the collapse.