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It is the height of a highly destructive hurricane season in the United States. The devastation of Harvey in Texas and Louisiana caused nearly 300,000 customers to lose electricity service, and Hurricane Irma has cut service to millions of people. Soon, winter storms will bring wind and snow to much of the country.
Anxious people everywhere worry about the impact these storms might have on their safety, comfort and convenience. Will they disrupt my commute to work? My children's ride to school? My electricity service?
When it comes to electricity, people turn their attention to the power lines overhead and wonder if their electricity service might be more secure if those lines were buried underground. But having studied this question for utilities and regulators, I can say the answer is not that straightforward. Burying power lines, also called undergrounding, is expensive, requires the involvement of many stakeholders and might not solve the problem at all.
Would burying power lines render them more weather-proof?
Read the full article on The Conversation.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Geezer on Thursday September 14 2017, @01:24AM (3 children)
Depends on the issues. If the underground lines are in carlon raceway, it's easier to pull new cable through pipe than string overhead. If its direct-burial cable, not so much.
Even if there's a break in the conduit, it's easy to find with modern methods.
Most new sub-divisions in Virginia require undergrounding, both to avoid tree trimming and general aesthetic reasons. With the transformers on unobtrusive above-ground pads, they're easier to service than pigs on a pole.
I worked on the runway & taxiway lighting at NAS Alameda after the '89 quake, and even with numerous conduit breaks we had the field up by sunset to support MH-53E helo ops to assist in emergency response.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by frojack on Thursday September 14 2017, @02:49AM (2 children)
So many of our cities have continuous sidewalks everywhere even out into the suburban areas.
There's a thing called utilawalks where the sidewalk slabs can be lifted individually with a backhoe then replaced as easily after the work is completed.
There's options for a knee deep concrete trench, prefab of course, or burial of cables in loose corse agregate under the slabs. There's no need to make them water proof.
Combined with waterproof armored cables and you solve several different problems.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday September 14 2017, @01:01PM
Direct bury cable doesn't need armor. See this page [okonite.com] for Underground Rural Distribution cable. As you can see it is good for up to 35kV for subtransmission or distribution. Jacket is a special polyethylene blend. Toss it in a deep enough ditch (usually a minimum of 3 ft/1m) and cover with dirt.
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Thursday September 14 2017, @01:44PM
I have worked in some places in Philadelphia where some old buildings have their basements under the sidewalks. It's a shame we can't bury the cables there because metal theft is such a problem in the city.