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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: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 14 2017, @02:31AM (3 children)
I want to point out that expected 100 kph winds can be engineered for. 100 kph is only about 70 mph, and I think it safe to say that all of our power mains will survive that. Hurricane winds though, are often twice that strong, possibly even three times - and they aren't exactly routine, and expected. You're probably comparing apples to apples, but you've chosen entirely different varieties.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday September 14 2017, @02:36AM (1 child)
Fuji vs. rotten fermented Granny Smith with worms inside?
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(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 14 2017, @02:45AM
No, it's not that bad, really. The power lines mentioned have been engineered for some powerful winds, and that same engineering would be applicable to "hurricane proof" power lines. It's a matter of degree. Of course, I'm not sure that we can build to that level of strength and durability. A cat five hurricane is probably going to take out some main power lines, even if we try to build to that level.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday September 14 2017, @03:36AM
Agreed- wind on wires, poles, towers, etc., is pretty easily handled. It's all the blowing debris, including leaf-bearing trees and limbs catching on wires and poles, that greatly multiplies the force.