Heartland power line approved with conditions

[Sonic Death Monkey]

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/...744/story.html

EDMONTON - The Alberta Utilities Commission has approved a controversial $596-million power line that cuts through Strathcona County.

The line will be built with conditions, including single poles in some areas to reduce visual impact.

The commission will also conduct testing of electro and magnetic fields near Colchester Elementary School before and after the project is build.

The Heartland transmission line, a joint project of Epcor and Altalink, will run from the Ellerslie substation in south Edmonton to the industrial heartland area.

[howie]

This always seemed like a fait accompli from the word go.

[Marcel Petrin]

They can argue about aesthetics all the want, and they might have a valid point. Same with whether or not the line is even needed, and on what time frame. The second they try to bring "health" in to it, they lose the argument.

[McBoo]

They get more emf complaining about transmission lines on thier cell phones.

Phaw

[Glenco]

The people in Strathcona county want to enjoy all the benefits of industrialization, tax revenues, but not the drawbacks. Power lines come with the territory.

[howie]

I may not be up on this stuff, but some AUC spokesman on last night's news

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/ (top video player story)

was talking about $300M involved in putting the cables underground. Say what? Don't you just dig a trench? In this case we're talking about 30km of trench or 130,000 ft. So $300,000,000 divided by 130,000 is $2,300 per linear foot. Er, get another quote, pal.

Maybe I should put him in touch with the guy who did my garden fence postholes.

[MXV]

Originally Posted by howie

I may not be up on this stuff, but some AUC spokesman on last night's news

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/ (top video player story)

was talking about $300M involved in putting the cables underground. Say what? Don't you just dig a trench? In this case we're talking about 30km of trench or 130,000 ft. So $300,000,000 divided by 130,000 is $2,300 per linear foot. Er, get another quote, pal.

Maybe I should put him in touch with the guy who did my garden fence postholes.

Obviously, you understand nothing about the heat generated by lines of this voltage, and what it takes to insulate them (other than hanging them in the air). Furthermore, the technology isn't proven, as no other power transmission systems are stupid (or rich enough) to have previously considered burying lines of this type.

We'd all have been paying for this (provincial taxes), so I for one am very happy that they weren't buried. Hooray for common sense!

[incubo nero]

[QUOTE=MXV;402259Furthermore, the technology isn't proven, as no other power transmission systems are stupid (or rich enough) to have previously considered burying lines of this type.

We'd all have been paying for this (provincial taxes), so I for one am very happy that they weren't buried. Hooray for common sense![/QUOTE]

If you mean "direct cut and cover burial", then yes, it hasn't been tried with 500kV yet but other high voltages have been done.

An environmentally-controlled conduit would have been the only way to really pull this one off though and put everyone at ease due to Edmonton's colder temperatures. 500kV has been done this way in a few projects around the world. Obviously, far more expensive.

The cost of the $300M burial proposed in the application would have been recovered on utility bills, not through our provincial taxes. Based on AESO estimates, it would have amounted to approx. $0.30/month per residential ratepayer. The conduit solution (the more technically feasible one) would probably have cost triple.

Don't fool yourself though, into thinking that the decision was rendered primarily on issues of technical feasibility. This decision was primarily driven over ratepayer burden. Although fretting over dollars and options at this point is akin to buying a luxury SUV without consulting your spouse, and then graciously allowing them input on whether or not to get the NAV package.

[McBoo]

Originally Posted by howie

I may not be up on this stuff, ... In this case we're talking about 30km of trench or 130,000 ft. So $300,000,000 divided by 130,000 is $2,300 per linear foot. Er, get another quote, pal.

Maybe I should put him in touch with the guy who did my garden fence postholes.

Nope, you have to dig a 30 km trench, and put a concrete bunker in it - and then fill the bunker with liquid nitrogen to keep the lines from overheating.

It's an incredibly complex undertaking. And there's no proof - because it's never been done before with a line of this size in a climate like this - that a year later you won't have to dig it all up because it didn't work afterall.

Overhead was the only sane decision.

[sundance]

Originally Posted by MXV

...Furthermore, the technology isn't proven, as no other power transmission systems are stupid (or rich enough) to have previously considered burying lines of this type.

We'd all have been paying for this (provincial taxes), so I for one am very happy that they weren't buried. Hooray for common sense!

England is starting to bury them more in urban and areas near urban centers. It isn't the cheapest method but when you consider tornadoes, freezing rain and lightning strikes having them above ground has costs too...

http://www.nationalgrid.com/NR/rdonl...calIssues5.pdf

They built a tunnel in 2005 from Elstree to St. John's Wood for transmission cables...
http://www.nationalgrid.com/NR/rdonl...CaseStudy2.pdf

And later from Westham to Hackney in 2009
http://www.nationalgrid.com/NR/rdonl...CaseStudy3.pdf

You wouldn't need to cool them with liquid nitrogen, other gasses or liquids will work too.

[Edmonton PRT]

Originally Posted by McBoo

They get more emf complaining about transmission lines on thier cell phones.

Phaw

I wonder what the emf is compared to the amout a kitchen stove or a 60" TV gives off

Originally Posted by Glenco

The people in Strathcona county want to enjoy all the benefits of industrialization, tax revenues, but not the drawbacks. Power lines come with the territory.

Buyer beware. If you did not check before you bought that there is a utility corridor beside you (may look like a grassy field but what was the zoning?) that you may end up with powerlines, pipelines, high pressure gas lines etc. You also should check where the local fire station is if you don't like sirens at 2:00 am, rail lines and airport approach paths.

I find it commical that there are people living at 1st ave SW east of 91st street within 75 meters of an existing major substation and only 25 meters from the same lines and they are not complaining. In fact they bought their new homes that were built right beside the existing substation and probably got a deal on the price.

The residents there look like the power lines did not affect them at all. Or did they???

[Titanium48]

Originally Posted by sundance

You wouldn't need to cool them with liquid nitrogen, other gasses or liquids will work too.

Although if you did use liquid nitrogen you could use superconducting wire and eliminate transmission losses.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Originally Posted by Edmonton PRT

I find it commical that there are people living at 1st ave SW east of 91st street within 75 meters of an existing major substation and only 25 meters from the same lines and they are not complaining.

Or there's the 500 kv lines along Henday S.

Or how about the existing 240 kv lines that were there long before the suburbs:
- between 34th Ave and 23rd Ave west of 97 St
- along Henday W
- thru north-end about 153rd Ave and 163 Ave

Are there higher highs of cancer, mutation or other medical ailments amongst people living near these lines?

[Edmonton PRT]

Originally Posted by Sonic Death Monkey

Are there higher highs of cancer, mutation or other medical ailments amongst people living near these lines?

My dog likes the power lines. He says that they give him lots of energy!



Ever since we moved near the powerlines for some reason he has been eating twice as much...

[MXV]

Finally...the arguement's over!

http://www.strathcona.ca/departments...n-Project.aspx

[Chris83]

Building utility lines in a Transportation Utility Corridor...crazy.

[sundance]

Well the only crazy part is, I thought they should have just built another set of towers along the existing lines running near 17th Street, or double up the wires on those towers.

[MXV]

What, and route it through a city when it's a regional line, meant to run in a Transportation and UTILITY Corridor?

[sundance]

There already is a corridor along 17th street, to me it made sense to use the existing powerline corridor.

But regardless saw stacks of tower pieces at the old Rheem location (Yellowhead just east of AHD) the towers will be going up soon so the people living in the Colchester area should start folding up tinfoil to make protective hats.

[JJMorrocco]

Originally Posted by sundance

Well the only crazy part is, I thought they should have just built another set of towers along the existing lines running near 17th Street, or double up the wires on those towers.

I believe this line is just the supply of Goldbar auxillary station getting into the grid at the station on 17st and baseline. Not nearly big neough for what they have planned.


The 'monster' towers have started being built on the northside of the river on the way to Kulhmans.

[chrisvazquez7]

As seen from Meredian St looking north.


photo by kokkeimizu, on Flickr


photo by kokkeimizu, on Flickr

[Sonic Death Monkey]

^ lattice tower construction has also started along the south Henday between the 91 St and 17 St interchanges.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

From the NE AHD construction website - if you look closely, you can see the transmission towers going up:

[Sonic Death Monkey]

School to close to make way for Heartland Transmission line

[sundance]

Is is just me but are the towers which will support the lines seem to be very close to each other? It seems they could be twice as far apart and still not cause a problem. I'm no engineer for the power company, it just seems like they could have done the same job with less and created less of a visual blight.

[chrisvazquez7]

The towers are exactly where they have to be. These power lines weigh tons, and need all the support they can get.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Most of the steel towers between the river and Baseline Road and between Hwy 14 and the Ellerslie substation are now up. They are certainly much larger than the other steel tower transmission lines nearby. No monopole towers up yet between Baseline and Hwy 14, probably due to the NE Henday project work there.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Saskatchewan River crossing

Originally Posted by BalancedOP

[Ustauk]

ATCO claims the lines are running on direct current, and that the static electric field should not have the negative affects we associate with AC current power lines. Can someone with a science background confirm it?

Great shot, SDM. (you know you've been on Red Flag Deals too long when you see those initials and think Shoppers Drug mart ) It should be surreal driving past these monsters on the Henday; they look bigger then the ones down on the south leg.

[BalancedOP]

Hey SDM I don't see my name on that photo you used.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

^ Sorry, meant to keep the quote from the AHD thread. Fixed

[darkmagnoblade]

^^It's not like he claimed it to be his photo in the first place.