It’s cheaper than concrete, requires almost no maintenance, drains well, compacts well for moving heavy gear and trucks, and there is usually a grounding grid built underneath the whole substation which requires the whole area to be dug subgrade and backfilled, for which gravel is a good material.
My first job was at the Centralia hydro project, it goes beyond gravel but that’s 16ft of gravel. Keep in mind those *wires* are 2inch by 12inch flat copper *wires*. A massive amount of juice goes thru that switch yard. A guy got melted wearing a full arc suit but lived due to his PPE. Our safety manager had one arm, burned completely off. The lineman in every state who handle storms are completely unsung heros.
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