Back in the manholes again! This time, we're cutting the splice out of a blown cable, so we can pull the old cable out, and a new cable in. You can see the tool positioned around the cable for the cut.
We use this hydraulic guillotine cutter to safely cut the cable.
Dobi, the foreman, stands outside the manhole and operates the cutter. This way, in the remote chance that we've got the wrong cable, no one gets injured if the cable is energized. There is no way to tell if a shielded high voltage cable is energized or not.
We're using a crane to pull the old lead cable out.
There's the fault! Only one phase shorted to ground, but the cable is useless now.
Dr. Bob is reviewing the instructions and materials to begin his splice. He and Backup are working on the 3 conductor lead to 3 single conductor splice. Toothy McToothman is their safety guy in the background. He sits at the top of the manhole and monitors air quality, keeps the generator running for lights, and would be the person to call for help should there be a problem in the manhole.
I'm doing the other end of our new cables, which join with three existing single cables. It was pretty tight quarters in there.
One of the three splices is completed (top), now I'm starting the second one. The entire process took from noon (when we had the manhole prepared and the cables trained into their final position) until 1 AM. It was an
arduous 19 hours on Friday. Saturday, Dr. Bob and Backup finished their splice while I covered the cables with fire resistant tape, then did a few other odds and ends to help wrap up. I finished taping the buss around 8 PM.
We use this hydraulic guillotine cutter to safely cut the cable.
Dobi, the foreman, stands outside the manhole and operates the cutter. This way, in the remote chance that we've got the wrong cable, no one gets injured if the cable is energized. There is no way to tell if a shielded high voltage cable is energized or not.
We're using a crane to pull the old lead cable out.
There's the fault! Only one phase shorted to ground, but the cable is useless now.
Dr. Bob is reviewing the instructions and materials to begin his splice. He and Backup are working on the 3 conductor lead to 3 single conductor splice. Toothy McToothman is their safety guy in the background. He sits at the top of the manhole and monitors air quality, keeps the generator running for lights, and would be the person to call for help should there be a problem in the manhole.
I'm doing the other end of our new cables, which join with three existing single cables. It was pretty tight quarters in there.
One of the three splices is completed (top), now I'm starting the second one. The entire process took from noon (when we had the manhole prepared and the cables trained into their final position) until 1 AM. It was an arduous 19 hours on Friday. Saturday, Dr. Bob and Backup finished their splice while I covered the cables with fire resistant tape, then did a few other odds and ends to help wrap up. I finished taping the buss around 8 PM.
