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Citizen complaint of the day: Low-hanging wire in South Boston
By adamg on Thu, 08/10/2017 - 2:18pm
A handy citizen who presumably can tell the difference between cable, telephone and electrical wires shows the city just how low one wire on Loring Street in South Boston is.
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
That is the only way he could
That is the only way he could get network signal on his Sprint phone.
Fun Useless Fact
You can usually tell what the wire is by where it is on the pole. The top wire should be the power transmission, the wire below that should be electric distribution. The lowest wire on the pole should be Verizon's (as heir to NET) and the cable wires should be just above it. The communications wire may vary, but power should always be above communications with a good chunk of space between them; the power and communications companies guard their space jealously.
fun useless fact part 2
Unless you are professionally trained, do not assume you can guess if a wire is live and what the amperage/voltage is. Could be cable coaxial, could be strong enough to kill you. If you'd received proper training, you'd know not to touch without proper gear and testing. This is how people die. don't touch
Another fun useless fact
It is possible to bury these cables underground. Who knew?
Fun fact
Burying cables digging up streets whenever shit goes wrong.
Not typically
If the cables are put in proper trenches, with access boxes every X feet, then you can access the wires through manhole access and just pull to repair/replace.
Not true for every problem, of course, but for many to be sure.
while also nearly impossible
while also nearly impossible in a place such as southie. Who knew?
Overhead
A few years back we had a lot of problems with power outages in this neighborhood. We asked why these cables couldn't be buried. The simple answer is: money.
That area, particularly West 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th have overhead wiring.
Of course it is
Penny wise, pound foolish.
yup
Pretty much this is it. I asked my town too, we're one street away from downtown where its all underground. AND they are re-doing my street entirely (new water, sewer) so it would be a perfect time.. but no. It costs money.
Plus Eversource, Comcast and Verizon would have to pony up money too. Not just the city's and towns.
And we all know all of them don't like putting money into capex. Gosh for bid we have reliable services. *eye roll*
Flood Zone Issues
I don't know what zone this is in, but you cannot bury electrical lines in main surge zones anymore. I wonder how long it will be until the Back Bay starts having problems with this.
Just like you are best to put your heating and electrical panel somewhere well above the basement when you renovate if you live someplace that could get a storm surge or regularly floods.
Not true
Electric and transmission lines have been and will be buried under ground no matter what flood zone they are in. As a matter of fact I just worked on a project where this was done.
And if they didn't use special vaults
You will have more work to do in the future.
Unless they buried the wires and not the other infrastructure.
Resilience planning on a thing ... A thing that is now working its way into codes.
There is an upside
Yes overhead wires are unsightly and easier to be knocked out during storms, accidents, etc. But I've been in neighborhoods [like JP] where an underground wire and transformer fire meant almost a week of no power because it all melted into a slag pool down a manhole. Where a transformer and wires on a pole can be much more readily replaced.
Ergo
Why they aren't suitable for flood areas.
Brookline
When I lived in Brookline the selectmen tried to pass an ordinance which would have added a 1-2% tax to the electric rates such that in ~30 years they would have raised enough money to burry all the lines.
Thankfully, it failed.
Thankfully? Huh?
Thankfully? Huh?