William
Posts: 523
Joined: Mar 2004
Last Visited: 08:32 12th Apr 2008
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Re: Denny Transmission Line
Date Posted: 20.42hrs on Tue 6 Feb 07
alan Wrote:
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> As I understand it the existing powerline will
> need to be replaced regardless of whether capacity
> is increased as much of it is nearing the end of
> it's useful life - William do you know if that is
> the case?
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> How about some joined up thinking - there has been
> a long running campaign to upgrade the A9 and the
> main Highland Line railway is also in serious need
> of improvements. How about undergrounding a third
> of it below an upgraded A9. A third below a new
> high-speed highland line, and the last third
> carried in overtrack ganteries that can also power
> the trains.
The replacement of pylons is a constant running job - as they get older they are replaced. Like for like. But the new pylons will be transmitting a much greater voltage, and so are much bigger. They will be seen for miles
Alan, I think that you have made a good point, that the engineering of this new power line could be done alongside other engineering projects.
a) I, personally, don't think it would be a good idea to put the cable under any main roads. A cable fault on a 400KV line is a BIG job to repair. It can take days to complete, the resulting roadworks would be horrendous. However, underground faults are pretty rare on such transmission lines if the initial cable laying and jointing is done properly! (most faults are because of initial bodge-jobs). However, if there is major engineering to be done on the A9, putting the line alongside the road would be a good idea. (and also be convenient for any faults or maintenance)
b) as above
c) I think a 400KV power supply would blow the trains to bits!
For what it is worth, I am for undergrounding the power line. It is a massive job (would involve an excavation about the same size as a dual carriageway), but once it is there, it is out of sight out of mind because the land could be returned to "normal", which for me, isn't such a bad thing. Pylons are such ugly constructions, and they do offend me when marching across our beautiful landscape. The cost of an underground cable is estimated to be 10x that of pylons, but written off over, say 50 years, is not exhorbitant.
If anybody has any strong feelings about the overhead line, I suggest going to the top - Ian Marchant is the top man at SSE, and can be contacted at the Perth office (Inveralmond House, Perth). Give him some hassle, just don't say I sent you!
Edited 1 times. Last edit at 20.42hrs Tue 6 Feb 07 by William.
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