Overhead Power Lines

[SE9]

In London all power lines are below ground.

When you get to outer regions of the city, in the older estates, you will see residential streets with telegraph poles (lines for telephones). The power lines are still submerged.


Modern London street, all submerged:




Poor area, London housing estate (projects), all submerged:





Poor area, outer London old housing estate (1930s)... telephone lines above ground, power lines submerged:

[Galro]

Most ordinary power lines are submerged in Oslo, Norway, but there are some older districts that for some reason still have overhead power lines. Not sure exactly why though.

Example of those:
image hosted on flickr

Rodeløkka view by Ikøn, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

P1010349 by Ikøn, on Flickr


In additional then we also have a clusterfuck of tram lines running all over the place which features overhead lines, like this:
image hosted on flickr

Homansbyen, Oslo, Norway by Ikøn, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Modern infill, Parkveien 5 by Ikøn, on Flickr

(All pictures taken by myself.)

[hkskyline]

How exactly do overhead wires fare better in an earthquake than underground ones? The fallen wires will just ignite a fire on the ground, and perhaps zap a few pedestrians that happen to pass by?

[Skyrazer]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

How exactly do overhead wires fare better in an earthquake than underground ones? The fallen wires will just ignite a fire on the ground, and perhaps zap a few pedestrians that happen to pass by?

I imagine it's more a case of repairing. If it's above ground, it'll just be a matter of re-erecting the line poles and reconnecting the lines. On the other hand, if lines underground get damaged which is very possible in an earthquake, getting access to the damaged segment and repairing the lines could get extremely difficult and could take a very long time (not to mention would be very expensive).

[Positronn]

This is one thing I'd also like to know.

A post I did yesterday in a thread of this issue in the Brazilian Forum.

Originally Posted by Positronn

Salvador

Brusque

...
...

This is the partial underdrounding solution applied in a few cities. Unfortunately, this is kind of iniatiave is rare, as much as full underground wiring. Most cities in Brasil have wires everywhere.

[goschio]

Just hate above ground powerlines. They are not only extremely ugly and messy but also cause lots of power outages.

[shree711]

In Hong Kong, most cables are underground. However, some larger cables are above ground in the New Territories.

[Ocean Railroader]

I like power head power lines in that I collect telephone pole and power pole insulators which are the little knobs that hold and insulate the wires on to the tops of the poles. Insulators are very cool and easy to collect and they are low maintenance here is a website about insulator collecting http://insulators.info/

When people post photos of what cities looked like in the early 1900's with 20 across arm poles and wires blocking the skies and complain I drool at how each of those old telegraph and telephone poles has hundreds of glass insulators loaded up on them in the sky.

A example of this is when I get on this website and see the photos of the miles of rotting abandoned telephone lines sitting along the railroad tracks and highways in some of these counties and think of how it would be great to go over there and insulator hunt them and add them to the insulator collection.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Svartmetall

I hate overground power lines with a passion. They're ugly and intrusive.

Agree 100%. Burying electrical is early 20th century technology. Even poor eastern European countries managed to bury their lines about 80 years ago. Toronto is a fantastic city, but it's overhead electrical is shocking. Toronto still uses wooden telephone poles as well.

What's next, cars pulled by horses?

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by SE9

In London all power lines are below ground.

When you get to outer regions of the city, in the older estates, you will see residential streets with telegraph poles (lines for telephones). The power lines are still submerged.

Very civilized. Some Torontonians argue that it's too expensive rather than admit that it's sub-standard.

[Dimethyltryptamine]

The older suburbs here have overhead power lines. I actually don't mind them, adds to the chaos. I love the tram lines everywhere in Melbourne too.

[erbse]

I just hate overground power lines. With a passion, too. It's really bad in most of North America, still. Makes so many places look lik 3rd world. You'd hardly find any of those in 1st world Germany, thou.

[trainrover]

Originally Posted by Marcanadian

▲▲ ▼▼

Originally Posted by trainrover

I guess either the TTC or the City thought it might be best to spruce up all that tinselling before one of google's roving eyes popped up around some tram-equipped corner

As for Montreal, I don't know what became of its proramme at burying its own utility wiring. Started in the '50s, it seems it was dropped around tbe dawn of the '80s ... probably only 25% of its streets are wire-free. I think wiring down a city street is dreadful. Funny how many Montreal suburbs have wiring-free policies...

[George W. Bush]

Overhead power cables can be real life savers

[Skyrazer]

I don't actually mind overhead powerlines, to me they add to the urban mix. May just be me though.

Here in Australia, it mostly goes that older areas have overhead while newer establishments have underground. I lived in a 70s/80s suburb in Canberra which had overhead while where my dad lived in Gungahlin, which began coming up in the mid-90s, the powerlines are underground.

Now I'm living in an inner-Melbourne suburb which kinda has 2 parts - a newer part which came up around the early 2000s and the old part which is predominately early 20th century. The new part (where I live) has underground lines while the older part has overheads everywhere.

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by George W. Bush

Overhead power cables can be real life savers

Electricity has been cut off in this flooded area. But if power was still running, they would have been electrocuted.

[calaguyo]

Running under cable wires.

Filming of Bourne Legacy in Manila.

[trainrover]

All overhead wiring is piratic, legal or not ...

[Chrissib]

Overhead lines in non earthquake prone areas is so 3rd world.

[trainrover]