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#147926 04/02/03 08:55 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
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Go to Orlando Sentinel.com for the rest of the story...


-Virgil
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5 Star Inspections
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Arc Flash PPE Clothing, LOTO & Insulated Tools
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Sparky,
Dooood, ya know how many bald eagles I've had to put out? They raise 'em near here. The only funny one I can talk about though was the raccoon that started a rather big fire at a substation, it included the fire dept. saying "You go first", "No, said I, You go first". Guess who got to go first, and yes, it's really me.

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Electric utilities can be prosecuted under the Endangered Species Act for the deaths of protected species . . .
!?!?!?!?!?!


Al Hildenbrand
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I'm with you ElectricAL,
How on earth do you prevent birds flying into power lines?.
Sure, undergrounding the wires, would help, but you shouldn't have to do this, just because birds may fly into the wires.
This would mean undergrounding the entire Electricity Grid!, a task in itself. [Linked Image]

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I've seen some high-tension power lines in rural areas use these bright orange balls strung on the wires.

But I guess this is to keep amateur pilots from getting tangled in the lines...not birds.

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The bright orange balls are in fact for aircraft. AB Chance, and Hubbel (in their complete line) offer lots of products to keep birds off poles. The problem is not birds flying into the wires, it is when they sit on the pole line hardware and flap, or peck at each other that gives problems. Pole spikes, and a host of other products prevent this from happening.

There is a way to prosecute companies that do not take steps to prevent this, but I don't know of any that have been more than warned, and this usually takes place near nesting areas where multiple problems have occurred. the companies usually want to take care of this problem themselves to prevent the unwanted outages and subsequent fires.

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Why not use PVC insulated wires? [Linked Image]

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Trumpy,
Didn't mean to leave you hanging there. Local voltages for distribution purposes take 3 basic forms here - 4,160/2,400 Old and phasing out rapidly, 12,500/7,200 More common but still being phased out, or 34,500/19,900 which is the prevalent voltage here.

How much PVC constitutes insulation? In a bucket truck 45kv gloves on, you can grab a line and put the pocket with your keys in it near your partner and shock the living crap out of him (not that we've ever done that on purpose mind you [Linked Image] )

Also bear in mind that there is NOTHING on the market today that does not deteriorate in the sunlight. They're getting better at it, but not there yet.

That's why no PVC insulation, not effective at that voltage, nor environment.

Oh yeah, nearly forgot the extreme weight that adds to the line, BIG problem.

[This message has been edited by George Corron (edited 04-07-2003).]

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SvenNYC:
(Separate from the orange warning spheres, but possibly of interest nonetheless) I believe there are also weights that are placed on lines to reduce the movement caused by winds. There's also cable designed such that it is not completely circular (round) so the wind doesn't have an even surface to push around.

George Corron:[quote]...can grab a line and put the pocket with your keys in it near your partner and shock the living crap out of him...[/b]

Do you work all the way up high with another person that close to you? I can just picture it now:

Zzzzap (snicker)
"Oh yeah? I'll show you!" ZZZZzzzap
"Hey, cut that out!" etc., etc.

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it is when they sit on the pole line hardware and flap...

I guess if the bird gets into a fight it can't see where it's stepping and therefore results in a tragedy?

A couple of birds sitting on the line shouldn't be a problem though....as long as they're hanging out and not yelling and fighting... [Linked Image]


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