Conductors & Materials
Aging Cable Infrastructure
Utility Proactively Tests Underground Cable
Conductors & Materials
Fiber-Reinforced Composite Cross Arms for Transmission Structures
Fiber-reinforced polymers versus traditional cross arms materials
BY JANOS TOTH & GRANT LOCKHART, FRP Transmission Innovations Inc.
Recently, utilities have started using newer options such as component polyurethanes instead of older, widely used conventional materials. Specifically, fiber-reinforced polymer shows promise in providing reliable, cost effective, and durable support for conductors, under challenging environmental conditions. This issue’s Overhead T&D Channel weighs the pros and cons of traditional cross arm materials and makes the case for use...
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Reflections: Nearly twenty years ago when I got into the energy business, reliability was a second-tier design objective for most transmission engineers. Safety factors had already been established and the materials we used for structures and powerline wires (conductors) were well known. While...