Why are pieces of stones used to cover the ground at electric switchyards instead of just having a concrete floor ?
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Not all substations are gravelled fully (I’ve seen fly ash and concrete). Transformers are filled with oil. As such they require a containment to prevent that oil from running into navigable waters in the event of a leak. The gravel immediately under the transformer is a containment volume that collects rainwater and oil. There is a large pit (sized for oil volume plus record rainfall amounts), lined with a membrane and filled with large gravel. You could make a containment volume without that gravel but it would be much more expensive, involve large concrete curbs, and wouldn’t provide a flat surface to allow for vehicles and people to easily transit. Additionally, there is an extensive grounding grid in the substation buried beneath all that rock. Everything in the substation is grounded, even the fence, creating an equipotential zone and to eliminate induced voltages from the high voltage.
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