Buried wires coming – eventually – to your neighbourhood

[rooster59]

Buried wires coming – eventually – to your neighbourhood

By JAKRAWAN SALAYTOO 
THE SUNDAY NATION

 

A new landscape of the Victory Monument will emerge after the Metropolitan Electricity Authority’s “smart metro” project to move electricity and communication wires underground.

 

INSTALLING underground power lines and communication cables is among the top goals cited by Bangkokians to improve their city. Not only would the move beautify the street scape, it would also boost public safety, ending news reports of accidents or natural disasters causing power poles to fall on people, causing death or injury.

 

Attempts to put wires underground were initiated in 1984 with the project to transform areas of Bangkok into wire-free zones underway, including a stretch between Victory Monument and the Lat Phrao intersection.

 

The Nation interviewed experts from the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) to learn about the project. |The MEA is following a five-step |protocol:

 

First, survey the infrastructure and electrical systems in the target area. Then, make an action plan and select appropriate materials.

Third, install a replacement power distribution system with underground wires. 

 

The fourth step, shift the power distribution system from wires on poles to underground wires, which is referred to as “throwing the switch”.

 

Last, remove the wires and power poles. Installing the replacement distribution system, the third step, can be done using one of three methods: an “open cut”, which is a noisy method that creates an open trench; “horizontal directional drilling”, a steerable, trenchless method using a bentonite clay solution that is used in excavation; or “pipe jacking”, which involves driving a pipe string from the launch shaft in the direction of the target shaft.

 

Once the pipes for wires or cables were in place, another team would come in to install waterproof wires and related equipment. The team would also use unit sub-stations that support power from the MEA, which adjusts the voltage from 24KV to 220V for distribution. The team would also test the wires by using the Oscillating Wave Test System before the power distribution shift – the target area’s houses would still have a power feed, except for a brief period during the system shift.

 

When a future problem arose, officials would use the Time Domain Reflection device to release waves into electrical wires to detect the problem spot so they could precisely repair it.

 

Once the power distribution has shifted, MEA would remove its wires and equipment from the poles and ask other communication service providers to do the same, said Prasong Khumprasert, head assistant of the agency’s Distribution System Administration. Then poles would be removed.

 

MEA would either use a hydraulic truck or a hydraulic cylinder device to remove the pole, he said. Safety is a priority for the agency.

 

“MEA’s power pole removal would have the target spot and nearby traffic lanes blocked from other people’s access for an appropriate time period during the pole removal. The uprooted poles would also be take out by truck immediately,” he said.

 

The September 13 incident in which a power pole fell near Sanam Pao Skytrain Station (but caused no injury) stemmed from the other operator’s imbalanced cable removal, he said. 

 

On September 1 last year, MEA joined with four agencies to sign an agreement to put wires and cables underground. They were the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission, the Royal Thai Police, TOT PCL and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administrative (BMA). 

 

Starting October 1, agencies would no longer work separately on underground wiring. They would now coordinate, integrating their burial of wires and cables, said BMA Deputy Permanent Secretary Wanchai Thanomsak, speaking in his capacity as project co-ordinator.

 

The BMA, as project host, planned to have three levels of wires: for power lines on the bottom,s fibreoptic cables in the middle, and water pipes nearest the surface. Wanchai said the agency has proposed the “pipe jacking” approach be used in high-traffic areas, and the cheaper “open cut” method in the suburbs.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30328118

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-10-01

[Get Real]

Yeah, sure! Meeerliin!!! Please, serve me that second bottle of extended life potion.

[khwaibah]

"Buried wires coming – eventually – to your neighbourhood"

So your going to do this out in rural isaan..

[lopburi3]

28 minutes ago, khwaibah said:

"Buried wires coming – eventually – to your neighbourhood"

So your going to do this out in rural isaan..

Was this posted in the isaan forum?  

I doubt many of us will be around to see it even in Bangkok.

[worgeordie]

Looks like they took notice of Bill Gates,he needs to make more suggestions. 

regards worgeordie

[nausea]

Overhead power lines, like houses on stilts, seem to make sense to me, in a country prone to extensive flooding; but what do I know, presumably waterproofing isn't a problem.The problem obviously isn't that the current system is badly organised and managed, stick them underground and everything will be OK - outta sight, outta mind.

[lopburi3]

4 minutes ago, nausea said:

Overhead power lines, like houses on stilts, seem to make sense to me, in a country prone to extensive flooding; but what do I know, presumably waterproofing isn't a problem.The problem obviously isn't that the current system is badly organised and managed, stick them underground and everything will be OK - outta sight, outta mind.

Until you try to use a walkover blocked by those wires - or lose power due to a truck taking out multi poles - or get old and can not climb to a second story stilt home.  

[lvr181]

QUIZ

 

Which will happen first?

 

1) Democracy

 

2) Underground wiring

 

Thinking outside the square is also good 

[scotchonrocks]

Yeah right!

[lvr181]

Love that cartoon.

 

And Pink Floyd comes to mind. 

[scotchonrocks]

I just wish they wouldn’t do this kind of sh!t!

[mark01]

Considering the 3rd world power and communication systems in Thailand, expect future problems to take weeks to solve and result in continuous roadworks.

Oh, and some people to make a lot of money from all this!

[farcanell]

Pretty sure I'll be buried a long long time before the power lines in my area.

[silverado1]

my neighbourhood  ? far from bangkok ... 

[Lupatria]

It will work, no doubt about it considering all the other things they already buried under the ground.

[scotchonrocks]

1 hour ago, Lupatria said:

It will work, no doubt about it considering all the other things they already buried under the ground.

And push under the carpet! Lol

[sirineou]

Oh yea , and every time they need to repair, they dig out the roads resulting with potholes everywhere.

Oh wait......... Vid of the road leading to our village just outside the ring road in Khon Khon Kaen

 

[realenglish1]

Wishful thinking  This is a dream Some areas like Victoria Monument and others like Shopping areas will have no wires but the rest will not happen

They will find reasons to spend the money elsewhere So if you are on a side street it is not going to happen

[Jonmarleesco]

'Installing the replacement distribution system, the third step, can be done using one of three methods: an “open cut”, which is a noisy method that creates an open trench; “horizontal directional drilling”, a steerable, trenchless method using a bentonite clay solution that is used in excavation; or “pipe jacking”, which involves driving a pipe string from the launch shaft in the direction of the target shaft.'

 

No prizes for guessing which one they will go with. 

 

[dinsdale]

Every week there's more lines/cables going up where I am. Take a good 10 minutes or or so to try and count them. Completely out of control. The only way this mess is going underground is to start again.

[connda]

Where we live?

[whaleboneman]

Buried wires coming – eventually – to your neighbourhood

 

Right after the earthquake.