In areas that get a lot of hurricanes like New Orleans, why isn’t most of the electricity run underground where it’s less vulnerable by now?
In: 2197
I’m a civil engineer who specialises in utilities engineering / BIM coordination so I feel I can give some clarity on this, in my country anything 33KV and under must be under grounded; which leads to a variety of issues in itself as there are numerous requirements for clearances to other utilities such as gas / water / sewer and stormwater drainage. You’ll also run into problems where cables being too deep will result in cable rating issues (cable loses power the deeper it goes and how many bends in the cable run) 2m is generally the max I’d go and even then I’d still use thermal backfill to stop the cables from getting so hot. Combine these issues with shit ground conditions and a water table higher than I am right now and you’re in for an expensive and time consuming time. Overhead cable has always been quicker to build / fix / maintain for most of human history but recent studies have shown they are actually quite bad for your health and end up being expensive in the long run with a relatively low service life compared to correctly built underground cable.
We have the ability now to bore banks of 10x200mm conduit / pilots over hundreds of metres, although we are limited by friction and bending it’s become a very effective way of cabling under rail and through shitty ground conditions.
Latest Answers