In Negril, on the West End, we have been assuming that the current won't be restored for at least 3 weeks. Now it may be 6 weeks. Discussions are apparently happening (again) about burying the lines as Robert Ray from Fox Weather was amazed hadn't already been done especially on a Caribbean island exposed to hurricanes:
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Rob,
The bottom line is the COST!
US estimate circa 2023 is US $2,000,000 to $6,000,000 per mile. This is for main lines only, not secondary connections to residences or businesses.
Don't know anything about easements in Jamaica, but granting an underground easement on private property for public utilities in the US is time consuming and costly.
Most US Electric utilities are pole mounted unless local zoning requires utilities to be underground. My subdivision west of Boston required utilities to be underground when it was built in the 1980's.
One suggestion would be to use concrete poles instead of wood, but again, the cost is greater.
Hope you are doing okay?
VVHT aka Happy
Last edited by VVHT; 07-10-2024 at 10:43 AM. Reason: spelling
Here in New Orleans they have talked about burying the lines for years and the talk heated up after Hurricane Ida wrecked our grid in August 2021. But we have a completely different problem. If you dig a trench more than three-four feet deep it fills up with water from below in most parts of the city. That's why we have cemeteries full of above ground tombs. Modern engineering may have a solution but that brings us back to the problem we share with Jamaica--where does the money come from?
They are figuring 4 to 6 weeks before we see current. I guess it depends on how much people's lives are valued. But the burying wires would be done once. This 4 to 6 week nonsense happens every time after high winds. How much are human lives worth?Originally Posted by VVHT
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Years ago, after Ivan, concrete poles were being seen replacing the wooden poles. It was common to see an old wood pole next to a full in use concrete pole.
Then, all of a sudden it stopped. No explanation was given at the time.
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They can't seem to keep water running with the lines underground, why do you think they would do any better with electric? Never gonna happen.
Regards,
Bob J
And many thanks to Browns54 and Rob for all the updates.
lol!!!!
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