Overhead-line practice

E.H. Cox, C.Eng., F.I.E.E.

Indexing terms: Cable jointing, Insulators, Overhead line conductors

Abstract

Overhead lines have been in use in the UK since the beginning of electricity supply, those erected prior to 1882
being based on American practice. The 1882 Act established rules regarding the consent for the erection of lines,
but made no reference to technical considerations. Further Electricity Acts followed, but it was not until 1928,
when the UK Electricity Commissioners issued their first general code, ELC 53, that there was any great change
towards modern-day practice. The British electricity boards' specifications are developed from the BS1320 design
for 11 kV and BEBS LI for m.v. The latest work on line design is in consequence of the revised Overhead Line
Regulation (statutory instrument 1355,1970), and the industry's adoption of the metric system. The modern
standards will differ from previous ones as all components will have their own standards. The supply industry
produces the standards, which, where applicable, are accepted by Department of Trade and Industry as conforming
to the Electricity Supply Regulations. Conductors represent some 45% of the total cost of overhead lines and for
the sake of economy aluminium has replaced copper as the material used. There are problems in the use of
aluminium, but these have been overcome by the development of differing designs of components and the
development of fittings and connectors. The development of the bimetallic-compression joint has removed the
corrosion problem in the connection of copper to aluminium. The m.v. system has changed to discrete systems
around transformers with no interconnection between them, and the modern standard will cater for this, together
with new methods of servicing. The advent of the BS1320 specification permitting unearthed systems, and the
development of the highspeed autoreclosing circuit breaker have revolutionalised the performance of 11 kV
overhead systems. Insulators have varied little over the years, but the manufacture of glass insulators has now
ceased in the UK and the production of porcelain ones is limited. The introduction of resin-bonded glassfibre in
the construction of insulators opens up a new field in design. While earlier developments improved the operational
characteristics of 11 kV lines, the addition of hot-stick maintenance techniques from America and the development
of live-line connection methods by area boards in the UK is changing the maintenance philosophies of the boards
and the training of the staff. It is obvious that the preservation of timber has been a problem that has exercised
the minds of engineers over the years. The prime preservative has been creosote, although water-based preser-
vatives are available and have been tested. Rot occurs in poles due to fungi, and several methods available for
combating it are discussed. The rural electrification programme in the UK, as required by the 1947 Act, has been
completed in the last five years, and the present construction requirement is only for short extensions and rein-
forcements. The emphasis in the future will be on the maintenance of lines with the consequential changes in the
design of tools and equipment and the training of labour. The length of overhead lines in operation is shown in
Table 1.

1 Period 1882-1948
Overhead lines have been in use in the UK more or less from
the start of electricity supply, and those erected prior to 1882 usually
followed American practice. It is doubtful if any written practice was
followed. There were no regulations or standards covering design or
construction.
The 1882 Act stated that overhead-line work could only be carried
out after the consent of the local authority and the specific consent
of the Board of Trade had been given. The latter authority who pre-
pared regulations required submission of construction details for each
case.
Regulations for securing the safety of the public and for ensuring
a proper and efficient supply of .electrical energy, which included a
few.paragraphs on overhead lines, were appended to.the electric-
lighting orders, issued under the 1882 Act.
Peculiarities in the 1882 Act certainly did not help the statutory
undertaker, a particular one being the local authorities' right of
absolute veto to the erection of overhead lines in their area. While
statutory undertakings had to comply with electricity supply regu-
lations, nonstatutory undertakings did not. Thus, the anomolous
position existed that statutory undertakers had to comply with the
relevant regulations and were subject to local authority veto, the
nonstatutory undertaker was free of the regulations and possibly
less liable to the veto.
In 1896 the first British Safety Code was published and incor-
porated regulations concerning aerial conductors. 1905 saw a revision
of the regulations which omitted aerial conductors but following this
there were two sets of regulations — one for medium and low voltage
and the second for high voltage. These regulations existed until 1928
when the Electricity Commissioners issued their first General Code
ELC 53. It is interesting to note that while there was very little
change in the regulations until 1924, during that period the wind
pressure which formed the basis for working load was reduced from
2-4kN/m2 to 1-2 kN/m2 (501b/ft2 - 25 lb/ft 2 ) and the factors of
safety for supports were reduced from 12 to 10.
Paper 7451 P. Commissioned IEE Review
Mr. Cox is with the Midlands Electricity Board, PO Box 8, Mucklow Hill,
Halesowen Worcestershire B62 8BP, England
The regulations ELC 39 6 in 1924 were drawn up by the Electricity
Commission under the Electricity Act of 1919. These Regulations had
a mixed reception, and following consultation with the IEE and the
supply industry a new Code ELC 53 was published in 1928, with a
further revision in 1931 ELC 53 (revised). The light line 11 kV
construction design was published in BSI 1320 in 1946 and was
recognised in the next revision in 1947 of ELC 53 (revised).7
2 British electricity board specifications 1948—1970
Prior to 1970 specifications for use within the industry were
drawn up by standing committees of the conference of chief engineers
of the nationalised supply industry. These specifications were intended
to cover the design and associated components of lines for each voltage
. range^ but only l.v. wood pole and 132 kV steel tower line specifi-
cations were completed. Numerous engineering recommendations were
also produced in an attempt to standardise on common components
used by all area boards. These were not mandatary so that little .
standardisation was achieved.
The 11 kV rural system was based on BSI320 following the 1947
revision of the overhead line regulations 36(6) 8 which permitted its
adoption. Most area boards developed their own variation of this
specification, and obtained individual ministerial approvals to these
variations and to apply the '1320' design concepts to lines of 'heavy'
construction up to 33 kV with conductors much larger than the
32 mm2 (0-5 in 2 ) copper which was the maximum permitted by
BS1320.
Table 1
LENGTH OF OVERHEAD LINES IN SERVICE IN 1974
Voltage Circuit length
kV km
132 21 197
66 3612
20-33 33 962
5-11 159543
m.v./l.v. 77533

PROC. IEE, Vol. 122, No. 10R, OCTOBER 1975, IEE REVIEWS 1009
2.1 Electricity supply industry standards 1970
In 1970 the supply industry revised their methods of pre-
paring their specifications for plant and equipment. At this time all
the area boards were faced with the task of changing over to metric
designs and components and to introduce new line designs to take
advantage of the revised overhead line regulations (Statutory Instru-
ment 1355 1970). The system known as Electricity Supply Industry
Standards (ESls) was set up by the Engineering Department of the
Electricity Council on the basis that design specifications would deal
exclusively with technical parameters and that the component speci-
fications would cover the items called up in the design specifications.
The component specifications are to be used for ordering purposes,
all area boards quoting the same reference number. In many cases,
the same components are called up in the different design specifi-
cations and considerable cross references and references to British
Standards are built into the individual standards. The standards when
approved are published as a Supply Industry Standard and are
mandatory. Where applicable, standards are accepted by the
Department of Trade & Industry as a design conforming with the
Electricity Supply Regulations.
3 Conductors11
The cost of overhead-line conductors can represent as much
as 45% of the total cost of construction, the cost of the raw materials
representing a major part of this. The recent trend has been away
from the use of copper and its alloys. Aluminium, aluminium alloy
and steel reinforced aluminium (a.c.s.r.) are now predominantly used
at all voltages except where severe pollution, in particular salt-laden
air near the coast, limits the useful life of the conductor owing to
the accelerated rate of corrosion.
The heat treatment and wire-drawing process determine the
microstructure of the aluminium or aluminium alloy, and has been
found to have considerable effect on the long-term corrosion
resistance of the conductor. In addition, the aluminium/zinc/steel
interfaces in a.c.s.r. conductors can also lead to corrosion problems.
These can be partly combated by specifying that the galvanised-
steel core, and in some instances the inner layers of aluminium, are
greased. A high-melting-point grease is called for, but some workers
have suggested that this may be 'sweated out' during the high
temperatures experienced when the conductor is carrying fault
current and so lead to the inception of corrosion in the long term.
Conductors with a single steel 'king wire' are more susceptible to
this loss of grease, and this, together with tension-jointing disad-
vantages, detracts from the attractiveness of this stranding arrange-
ment. Practical erection considerations limit the maximum diameter
of conductors, and the limit on a.c.s.r. conductors would appear to
be about 500 mm 2 . Increased diameter raises the corona inception
level, but this is a problem that only begins to occur at the high-
voltage ranges where it has been tackled by adopting bundled
conductors.
The low weight/length ratio of aluminium-based conductors makes
them susceptible to aeolean-induced vibration of small amplitude and
after ice loading, or heavy fault current surges, to 'galloping', which
is a low-frequency large-amplitude vibration.
Development of connectors and earth-wire fittings
4.1 Bolted type
During the early development of overhead lines all connectors
were of the bolted type. For the joining of two conductors together,
they were of the parallel-groove design or were of the cut-out bolt
design. These two designs were reasonably satisfactory for low-fault
power systems and light-load currents. Under load-cycling conditions,
where the temperature of the fitting rises and falls, the bolts have the
tendency to relax and as the process is cumulative it can lead to early
failure. The passage of high fault currents has the same effect of
relaxing the connection owing to temperature rise.
4.2 Cone type joints
The cone-type joint found favour as an interim development
between bolted joints and compression. In principle, the conductor
was held in split cones in a body shell which was pulled up until the
cones were tight in the housing and on to the conductor. This had
similar thermal-relaxation problems to that of the bolted connections.
4.3 Compression fittings
The fittings used to terminate conductors must match the
1010
mechanical strength of the associated conductor and, unless the
conductor is 'carried through', it must also be capable of carrying
the electrical current. With the predominant use of aluminium
conductors there has been a progressive adoption of compression
jointing compared to the use of mechanical-bolted or cone-type
joints; the latter having been proved unsatisfactory in the long term
on conductors of all types of materials. A number of proprietary
compression-jointing systems are available, and are now well proven.
The various systems have different merits when considered broadly
in terms of the variety of dies, tool?, suitability for live-line working,
and the range of components. Subject to their correct use, and
assessed quality control of the fittings, an ever increasing use of these
systems can be assumed. An integral part of these systems is the use
of an abrasive grit-loaded grease to break down the nonconducting
aluminium oxide which rapidly forms on aluminium surfaces. In
addition, it is advisable, and in some instances imperative, that the
aluminium conductor be abraided by scratch brushing after appli-
cation of the grease. The premature failure of the majority of
compression joints can be attributed to omitting this workmanship.
It should also be mentioned that the use of abrasive grit also
contributes to the mechanical strength of the completed joint, and
the degreasing of the conductor strands with certain types is also
required. The use of a greased conductor presents a practical dis-
advantage both in fitting the permanent termination and with
temporary grips used during erection. When compression joints are
applied to a.cs.r. conductors it is important that the mechanical
load is shared by the steel core and the aluminium strands. This
requirement has inhibited the use of one-piece joints where the steel
and aluminium are compressed together in one operation, which is a
particularly attractive proposition when considering live-line working.
Mechanical bolted terminations are still attractive from this aspect,
in particular with regard to the smaller conductors. An acceptable
live-line compression termination for the larger a.c.s.r. conductors
has still to be developed.
All the current compression systems are operated by hydraulic
tools, but cartridge-operated tools are under development and
explosive-activated-compression fittings are available but have not
been used to any extent. While compression fittings have been used
for over forty years, this is a subject that is open to continued
development. The fitting of midspan joints and repair sleeves is
achieved almost entirely by compression techniques, and the same
comments apply.
Nontension fittings have only to carry the electrical current, and
their development and adoption has been made in parallel with the
tension fittings. The range has in recent years been greatly extended
to cover the smaller conductors, and some are now available fully
insulated for low-voltage work where the compression tool is applied
over the insulation. The integrity of this system has permitted its
large-scale adoption both on transformer and plant connections,
medium and low-voltage mains and house services. With such varied
applications, conductors of dissimilar material often require to be
jointed, and as they are usually of copper and aluminium, a bimetallic
joint is called for. This joint prevents galvanic corrosion in the 'cell'
set up at the interface of these metals. It is overcome by preventing
the ingress of moisture which acts as the electrolyte. This is achieved
by plating the surfaces with compatible metals, and spin welding the
metals together, or waterproofing the joint with suitable grease or
paste or a combination of these methods. The preparatory cleaning
operation mentioned regarding tension jointing is particularly import-
ant when making these joints; taking this into account and provided
the manufacturer's instructions are carried out, bimetallic joints do
not merit their poor reputation.
5 Attachment of conductors to insulators
Having commented on the conductor terminations and
connections there remains the attachment to the insulators at inter-
mediate supports. On tower lines and with the larger conductors
they are usually suspended from the insulator by means of a bolted
clamp, the bottom shoe of which is suitably contoured and radiused
to prevent damage to the conductor when the latter is vibrating. This
protection is sometimes augmented by the fitting of armour rods
which also assist in damping the vibration and help to prevent fretting
between the outer strands and the clamp body. On wood-pole lines
the conductors are predominantly set on the insulator and while
some insulators for 33 kV and above are fitted with clamp tops,
which are similar to the suspension clamp, the great majority of
conductors are bound to the insulator with a binding wire.
The usual type of binding is the stirrup bind where two solid rods
of similar material to the conductor are shaped to fit under the
insulator cap and are bound to the conductor. The stirrup helps to
distribute the flexing and so assist in damping vibrations and reducing
PROC. IEE, Vol. 122, No. 10R, OCTOBER 1975, IEE REVIEWS
fatigue. The length of the stirrup and the type of bind has tended to
develop as the art of the craft, but recent work would suggest a more
rationalised approach would give comparative performance. Most
binder designs on new work have been modified to facilitate live-line
working as binding and unbinding can represent a large part of the
time involved in live-line work.
6 Medium voltage overhead lines
In a similar way to these adoptions for 11 kV light lines of
BS1320 design the British Electricity Board specifications LI was
adopted in 1951 for the specification of new medium-voltage over-
head lines. An illustration of a pole conforming to BEBS LI is given
in Fig. 1. It can be appreciated that before the adoption of this
specification the construction of the medium voltage lines was to the
individual designs of the different undertakings in the United Kingdom;
an example is shown in Fig 2. This specification has been successful
and it is only now with the advent of the revised overhead-line
regulations and the use of the metric-system measurements that a
fresh look is being taken at the design parameters of this particular
type of work.
Fig. 1
M. V. overhead line erected in accordance with British Electricity
Board Specification LI
Fig. 2
M. V. overhead line erected on steep pole prior to the adoption
of BEBS LI
Since the inception of this standard the conditions necessary for
the supply of medium voltage have changed considerably. In the
earlier days of rural electrification the medium-voltage overhead lines
were of considerable length due to the transforming points from the
high voltage being few and far between. This to a large extent has
altered as the density of electrification has increased and the number
of transforming points have become greater. The present practice is
for a village to have a number of transforming points either pole
mounted or ground mounted and for there to be a discreet low-
voltage system around each transformer point, and in many cases
there is no interconnection between discreet low-voltage systems.
This has produced a difference in the philosophy of constructing
low-voltage systems in that the necessity for extending the system
with further spans has largely diminished.
There is also the increasing desire to improve the amenities in the
rural areas, and long straggling distributions have not helped, but the
PROC. IEE, Vol. 122, No. 10R, OCTOBER 1975,1EE REVIEWS
short discreet systems are more tidy. While this system has been in
use for a number of years and has been relatively successful, the
time has now arrived for the specification to be reviewed and this
is being done bearing in mind the requirement for shorter distri-
bution systems and also the necessity to define a service distributor
from the service itself. The opportunity is being taken to use such
relaxations in construction that are possible and safe, and to this end
the safety factor of the poles has been reduced from 3*5 to 2-5.
6.1 Servicing and under-eaves wiring
The servicing of domestic premises perhaps attracts more
criticism than any other part of low-voltage overhead-line work. The
2-wire service with the neutral as the top wire has proved in the main
to be successful, but situations have arisen where accidents have
occurred. Two new systems of servicing have been investigated by
various area boards, and one of these is the use of the modern plastic-
insulated twin concentric service cable as used for underground
services. It has been found that this can be satisfactorily erected on
spans up to 14 m (45 ft), and looks clean and tidy in situ. The other
type of service that has been used is the development from Scandinavia
of a 2-wire service in which the centre wire is the bare neutral and
helically wound around the outside is the p.v.c. insulated phase.
Of these two new methods of servicing, the use of the underground
p.v.c.-insulated concentric cable has at least one great advantage over
other methods in that the complete cable can be taken right down in
the house to a ground-floor meter position without any joints in the
run of the conductor.
While the foregoing only talks of single services it is of course well
known that multiservicing of rural properties has taken place over the
years, and in some cases this method has been used for the wiring of
terraced property in urban areas. The old system of using p.b.j.
insulation has shown that over a period of time it does not stand up
to the weather conditions, and has deteriorated considerably. One of
the problems now facing area boards is the reservicing of such proper-
ties. There are many new types of insulation that can be used on
conductors for this, and it is possible that such new services will be
with p.v.c. insulation, provided this is satisfactory in sunlight. No
immediate problems appear to exist in the use of this type of conductor.
Aluminium has proved to be the most popular material for use in
conductors, and in the majority of cases is satisfactory. However, in
certain coastal areas the useful life of aluminium as an overhead
conductor is short, owing to corrosion from the salt-laden atmosphere.
7 High-voltage overhead lines on wood poles
In 1946 under the heading of British Standard Specification
for high-voltage overhead lines for line voltages up to and including
11 kV with conductors not exceeding 0-32 mm2 (0-05 in2) the industry
brought out a new specification for the establishment of common
practice on overhead lines of these parameters. This was known as
BS1320: 1946; a typical pole conforming to BS1320 is shown in Fig. 3.
Previous to the issue of this document there were many standards,
often empirical, which were set up by the various supply authorities,
and the variations were numerous. In certain circumstances, designs
produced by contractors such as the type of construction shown in
Fig. 4 were adopted.
Fig. 3
11 kV light construction erected to BS1320
The foreword of BS1320 states the basis for which the specification
was drawn up, and it is interesting to note that the information for
this specification had been derived from the various types of construc-
tions that had been built to the relaxed statutory requirements
1011
permitted during the war years 1939—1945. It is interesting to quote construction can be applied to airbreak isolator positions if these are
from the foreword of the specification which in part reads as follows: live-line rod operated (Fig. 5).

Fig. 4 Fig. 5
11 kVlight construction erected to contractor's own specification, Live-line rod-operated airbreak isolator erected on cable terminal pole
circa 1940
Following the introduction of BS1320-type 11 kV light lines, area
'By a type of construction to give improved performance by the boards developed designs similar in concept, for use with conductor
reduction of some of the troubles associated with the types of con- sizes over 32 mm2 (0-05 in2) copper equivalent operated at 11 kV.
struction hitherto used. Its general adoption and the standardisation These designs were intended to be more economical in the use ot
of components should effect considerable economies in the first cost poles and steelwork. An example of such a design is shown in Fig. 6
and subsequent maintenance, thereby facilitating the provision of and for comparison a structure of older vintage is shown in Fig. 7.
supplies to remote and isolated premises.'
'The aim has been to keep the design as simple as possible compat-
ible with reliable components, the factors governing the design are
based on extensive experience on overhead lines in conjunction with
recent research.'
The design was based on original work supplied by the British
Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association and was for
copper conductors only in two sizes, i.e. 16 mm2 (0-025 in2) and
32 mm2 (0-05 in2); these were stranded conductors. The loading on
conductors and poles was based on the effect of a wind of a recorded
velocity of 112 km/h (70 mile/h) acting on the bare conductors. The
specification was also based on the idea that in order that vibration
troubles should not be experienced with conductors in still air at
15-5°C the tension was not to be greater than one-fifth of the breaking
load. The specification also called for poles of imported red fir with
the use of a safety factor of 2-5. The use of other timbers such as home-
grown red fir and larch required a safety factor of 3-5.
The major point of this type of construction was that with the Fig. 6
agreement of the Electricity Commissioners the system was to be 11 kV heavy-construction section pole 'rationalised design'
unearthed, that is, that in the previous types of constructions that
have been available in this country the three phase overhead lines had
an earth wire running above or below them. In this new system no
earth wire was required, and the steelwork at intermediate poles was
not connected to earth. The steelwork and apparatus at poles, i.e.
transformers or overhead-line switches, were connected to earth, but
in general the system was an unearthed system and gave better oper-
ational performance.
Where earthing of the system was necessary the method of carrying
this out is specified in the document, and it clearly defines the methods
for steelwork earths, neutral earths and apparatus earths where oper-
ation of the apparatus is required. It had been the normal practice to
use copper for the earth cable, but for the first time galvanised-
wrought-iron earth rods were permitted.
Where an associated m.v. system is overhead, it suggested that the
connection to earth is made on the first m.v. pole away from the
transformer pole. The specification for the steelwork earth shows the
Fig. 7
method to be adopted for fitting the earth conductors down the pole
and the connection to the earth electrodes, together with a table for 11 kV heavy-construction section pole with airbreak isolator,
determining the number of earth rods required. circa 1940
The earthing of pole-top switches calls for special precautions for Similar changes occurred in design of 33 kV supports. These changes
those types that are handle operated. The first requirement is that were more radical in as much as designs for 33 kV wood-pole lines as
the steelwork of the switch will be earthed in the manner prescribed, shown in Fig. 8 replace tower lines, one example of which is shown in
and connected to the operating rod which will have an insulated
Fig. 9. This design was extended to cover higher voltages and wood-
section. Finally, the operating handle will be connected to an inde-
pole lines operating at 66 kV have become quite common.
pendent earth mat. The object of the earth mat is to ensure that the
operator is at the same potential as the steelwork in the event of an
8 132 kV wood-pole lines
insulator failure.
To complete the existing philosophy in this type of construction, It has been the practice in the UK since the late 1920s to use
stays on unearthed poles have an insulator inserted, and stays on double-circuit steel-tower lines for voltages in excess of 66 kV and
earthed poles will not be insulated. The philosophy of unearthed this practice has been continued as circuit voltages were raised to 275

1012 PROC. IEE, Vol. 122, No. 10R, OCTOBER 1975, IEEREVIEWS
and 400 kV. In many overseas countries, where single circuits over
long lengths predominated, a variety of wood-pole structures were
developed for these high voltages. In the USA in particular, where
large poles were economically available, wide based braced H poles
have been extensively used utilising conventional string insulators of
glass or porcelain.

Fig. 10
132 kV trident construction using resin-bonded glass-fibre insulators
[Photograph by courtesy of Transmission Developments Ltd., Gloucester)

Fig. 8
33 kV double-circuit wood-pole line

Fig. 11
132 kV single-circuit angle tower, circa 1930
Fig. 9
33 kV double-circuit tower line
In the UK a small number of single circuit 132 kV lines were built
utilising steel towers at section positions and unbraced wide centre
'portal' wood-pole structures at intermediate positions with suspension
insulators. The development in recent years of resin-bonded glass-fibre
(r.b.g.f) insulators led to the design of insulated crossarms which permit
a substantial reduction in the structure heights, and an experimental
line at 132 kV was erected at Connah's Quay, a highly polluted area,
comprising wood H poles with insulated crossarms. The performance
has to date been very encouraging.
A further development in insulator design has been the introduction
of r.b.g.f. long-rod and post insulators for 132 kV working at the time
when the area boards became responsible for the 132 kV circuits and
this is opening up the possibility of using these insulators on a single-
wood-pole design at intermediate positions as shown in Fig. 10 with
wood H poles at sections.
The future application of this design is dependent on the accept-
ance of single-circuit lines from the planning aspect, but it is con- Fig. 12
sidered that a low-profile design on single wood poles with short 132 kV double-circuit angle tower, circa 1940
spans will be more acceptable from an amenity point of view, and
will considerably ease the present difficulties in obtaining wayleave 9 Overhead-line insulators
and planning concerts.
The 132 kV system was established in the UK after the 1926 Act Insulators for overhead lines have until very recently been
setting up the Central Electricity Board. The interconnection between manufactured exclusively from porcelain or glass. The manufacturing
power stations and major points of supply was by 132 kV single- techniques of both these materials have, however, been pioneered
circuit steel-cored aluminium-conductored lines. See Fig. 11. With the from other applications in the ceramic and glass industry and, at the
necessity for the transmission of greater quantities of power, double- beginning of the period under review, nearly every possible combi-
circuit lines were constructed as shown in Fig. 12, the present standard nation of shape and size was available to the user. During the review
utilising 75 mm2 (0-175 in2) aluminium conductors with steel period the change has been due to a trend set by the users to rationalise
reinforcement. the types used. The m.v. reel insulator of brown glazed porcelain has
Over recent years there has been a change in the use of the 132 kV remained the only standard. At 11 kV the one-piece porcelain-pin
system by the connection of a large number of substations for distri- insulator has predominated in rural electrification. A small number
bution purposes; it has ceased to be a primary transmission system of glass-pin insulators have been used on 33 kV lines but their cost
and is now in the control of the area boards. has not been justified, and at this voltage the solid-core porcelain-

PROC IEE, Vol. 122, No. 10R, OCTOBER 1975, IEEREVIEWS 1013
post insulator has gradually superseded the hollow-post (l.a.p.p) and .
the multipiece-pin insulator.
Tension insulators are now exclusively of the cap and pin type with
ball and socket connections, usually of 25 cm (10 in) diameter and
13-75 cm (5-5 in) spacing. The toughened-glass insulator (which
shatters when damaged owing to the outer skin being in tension) has
proved useful at high voltages, i.e. 132 kV and above, in that damaged
units are readily identified. This characteristic can be a disadvantage
if one insulator is sufficient as at 11 kV, and, consequently, the
adoption of one porcelain disc at this voltage has an economic
advantage.
The large and specialised processing plants required in the pro-
duction of glass or ceramic insulators has resulted in development
work being confined to the manufacturers, with the users only being
critics of the end product. Much of the manufacturer's research and
development has been directed towards improving the manufacturing
techniques, and users have often inhibited development by judging
the product on price and offering no contribution to development
costs.
The high ratio of permissible compression / tensile loads of glass
and ceramic materials set limits on the mechanical design and this
has now been fully exploited. The introduction of resin-bonded
glass fibre with acceptable electrical characteristics now permits the
designer to tailor an insulator with greater tensile and cantilever
loadings with the further advantage of reduced weight.
There again, the development costs can be more easily recovered
in the unit price of extra-high-voltage insulators, i.e. 132 kV and above.
Design of insulated crossarms from these materials have now under-
gone satisfactory field trials at 132 kV and the 'spin off has been the
introduction of a limited range of suspension and nontension long-rod
insulators at 66kV with the possibility of 33 and li kV insulators
in the not-too-distant future. Their economic justification at present
is achieved by their good resistance to mechanical damage caused by
vandalism.
An example of resin-bonded glass-fibre insulators fitted to an
existing 33 kV tower to uprate it to 66 kV working is shown in Fig. 13.
Fig. 13
66kV tower line
Photograph shows resin-bonded glass-fibre insulators used to increase insulation
level and ground clearance to uprate existing 33 kV tower line to 66 kV working
The long term electrical characteristic of resin insulators would now
appear to be satisfactory, but early resin compounds showed a lower
resistance to tracking than the glass or glazed-ceramic insulators. Here
too, the purely electrical development undertaken by the ceramic
industry has been directed towards improving the glaze. Semi-
conducting glazes have been offered on 11 kV pin insulators for
many years, to inhibit radio interference, and stabilised glazed cap
and pin insulators have been successfully developed.
The regrouping of the insulator manufacturing industry in recent
years has resulted in glass insulators no longer being manufactured
in this country, and the possibility of only one or two groups
manufacturing ceramic insulators. The activities of the BSI and IEC
Committees has resulted in a number of standards which will guarantee
the present quality of insulators from other countries, and it is
unlikely that there will be any radical change in the types at present
in use.
10 Live-line tapping
Live-line tapping has been adopted over the last 10-15 years
1014
by many of the area boards with the development of adequate clamp-
type devices that can be attached between apparatus on poles and
the line conductors. To carry out this method efficiently it has been
necessary to develop over the period of years special live-line tools
with insulated rods made in sections to enable the conductor to be
reached in safety by a 2-man gang. The types of apparatus that are
normally connected to the main-line conductors are transformers,
and pole-top autoreclosers. The method adopted is for the permanent
end of the connectors to be connected on to the apparatus on the
pole and the loose end, if it can be termed that, to be the connection
end to the line conductor. The development of the splash-plate
technique, which is the device shown in Fig 14, can hook over the
line conductor, and the connector clamp on the end of the rod can
be hooked over the conductor and screwed on to the line. As the
amount of connections have increased over the years a problem has
been found with the system due to the method of connecting directly
on to the line conductor.
Fig. 14
Live-line disconnection using 'splash plate'
The problem encountered with connecting the live-line taps directly
on to the overhead conductors was that erosion took place owing to
the loosening of the live-line tap on the conductor, especially under
fault conditions, when the conductor and the live-line tap both became
heated due to the flow of current. The connection deteriorated until
it eventually became completely deficient. The remedy is to compress
solid-conductor bails on to the live conductors and connect the live-
line tap to the bail. This provides the benefit that if the bail and the
connector burn away owing to bad connections, the line itself, which
was previously liable to break and come down, does not become
affected. In the event of burning on the bail the live-line tap can be
disconnected and temporarily connected to the line conductor while
the bail is cut away and a new bail compressed on to the line. This
system allows for easy operational working of the system in that
various pieces of plant and equipment can be connected and discon-
nected from the system without the necessity to shut the system down,
apply earths and issue permits-to-work. While live line tapping was
developed as a separate entity, it can be used in conjunction with hot-
stick working.
11 Hot-stick working
Hot-stick working is a development of the American practice.
Development was necessary to bring the tool styles into a pattern for
work on the British systems. These tools have been developed for use
in the UK and the techniques developed originally by individual area
boards; it is now possible with six basic skills to carry out hot-stick
maintenance on the majority of the types of 11 kV overhead lines.
These basic skills are binding in and unbinding of the conductors,
tensioning the conductors, spreading out the conductors, cutting of
conductors and reconnecting by compression methods. Maintenance
work can be carried out on the overhead lines to pole-top equipment,
such as insulators and crossarms which can be changed with the
system alive. Pole changing on straight-line poles and small-angle poles
can be achieved quite easily. In addition, maintenance of line isolators,
autoreclose breakers and similar pieces of apparatus can be achieved
with the system alive. With the co-ordination of live-line tapping and
hot-stick techniques in .one team, and it is possible to train the teams
in all the skills, it is possible to have the best combination of main-
tenance on live systems that can be achieved. It is also possible for
the hot-stick team to carry out the maintenance of a line and connect
a new spur to an existing line by live-line methods as part of their
normal duties.
The economics of hot-stick working have been questioned over the
PROC. IEE, Vol. 122, No. 10R, OCTOBER 1975, IEEREVIEWS
years, and this is particularly true from the point of view that the basic
apparatus is expensive and the training of the men in the number of
functions they can carry out with the use of the six basic skills is also
at a high-cost level. However, it depends on the engineering technical
formation of a board's system as to whether or not the value of hot-
stick working is carefully exploited. The work by hot sticks on a line
is in some cases slow in order that the safety rules needed for its
application can be strictly observed, and that the safety and efficient
working of all the men is ensured. It is possible that the actual time
on the job required by the hot-stick technique to replace a pole as
against dead conditions can be longer, but when taking into account
all the necessary preliminaries that have to be carried out to make a
line dead, earthed and safe to work upon, the actual time taken
overall is by no means wholly against the use of hot-stick working.
The main achievement of hot-stick working is in its continued use on
a planned basis to ensure that full maintenance is achieved, or in
association with major reconstruction work to enable a full day's
work to be accomplished. It is essential that with hot-stick working
the operational restrictions are not heavy, it is only essential for the
control engineer to be in a position to know where hot-stick working
is being carried out, and after that, once the control engineer has been
informed of their whereabouts, the men can carry on on their own
and only report back to control when the work has been completed.
12 Wood-pole preservation, decay and remedial
treatment 11
The wood poles used for overhead-line work in the UK are
usually imported from the Scandinavian countries and delivered to
pole yards on the coast of the UK. On receipt at the pole yards the
poles are stripped and dressed and then stacked to dry out over a
period of twelve to eighteen months. The estimated number of poles
in service is shown in Table 2.
Table 2
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF POLES IN SERVICE IN 1973
Voltage Number of poles in service
kV
66 30 000
20-33 270 000
5-11 2 000 000
m.v./l.v. 2 000 000
Total 4 300 000
12.1 Methods of treatment
The most usual form of treatment is by the pressure impreg-
nation of creosote into the poles. This method consists basically of
stacking poles in a pressure cylinder and initially subjecting the poles
to an air pressure of about 0-413 N/mm2 (601b/in2) and filling the
cylinder with creosote with the pressure maintained. The pressure is
subsequently raised to 1-378 N/mm2 (200 lb/in2) and the creosote
is kept at a temperature between 65-5 and 100uC. After the poles
have absorbed creosote to about 225 kg/m3 of timber the pressure
is released and subsequently the whole cylinder is evacuated and
vacuum of about 500 mmHg is applied finally to remove the excess
creosote. The net weight of creosote per unit volume of the timber
is 113 kg/m3 (7 lb/ft3); this is known as the Rueping process (the
empty cell method). This process is carried out in accordance with
BS913: 1954,9 and provides a satisfactory life of the pole. However,
while the final vacuum treatment reduces the excess creosote in the
pole to a reasonable minimum, problems are often found in erected
poles or in stacked poles after treatment in that creosote still exudes
from the pole, this is termed 'bleeding'.
It has been found in recent years that there is a greater incidence
of creosote 'bleeding' from poles, and this may be due to the differ-
ence in the practice of transportation of poles from the Scandinavian
forests to this country. Originally, poles were transported by water,
i.e. by floating down the rivers from the forests, and then stacked
as deck cargo on the ships transporting them to the United Kingdom.
In recent years, it has proved more convenient in the forests for the
poles to be transported over land direct to the port of loading. It has
now been fairly conclusively shown that the action of certain micro-
organisms which do not affect the strength of the timber but improve
its subsequent absorbsion of creosote is enhanced if the log is kept
wet for some months after felling as is achieved in 'floated' logs. A
combination of economic considerations and labour relations in
Scandinavia will result in an increasing supply of dry-cargo poles
with a subsequent increased problem of bleeding.
PROC. IEE, Vol. 122, No. 10R, OCTOBER 1975, IEEREVIEWS
12.2 Creosote quality
The distillation was achieved by the refraction of coal at
gasworks where the prime objective was to produce town gas and the
residue was creosote. However, in more recent times the use of coal
as the prime source of town gas has receded and heavy oils have
replaced this system. The creosote now obtainable is the residue from
the process of the gasification of heavy oils and while initially the
creosote was to'BS144: 1954,10 a more modern edition of this
document dated 1973 now enables a firm control to be made of the
creosotes that are at the moment being produced.
12.3 Water-borne salts
In addition to the use of creosote, certain chemical salts for
the preservation of timber have been developed over the years and of
these the most popular perhaps has been Tanalith C. This is a solution
of potassium, copper and arsenic in water. The basis of the system is
that the pole is soaked in this solution until the timber has absorbed
between 10 and 16 kg/m3 (0-6 and 1 lb/ft3). One of the advantages of
the process is that the poles are cleaner to handle than the creosoted
ones and as the preservation is in a water solution any pockets of
moisture which may be left in the timber are readily mixed with the
solution and the full treatment of the pole is carried out. On the con-
verse side, however, the water treatment of the poles makes the pole
considerably heavier for quite a considerable time after treatment, and
criticisms have been made of the excess weight of these poles in
handling and erecting. The other point that is problematic is that the
poles are much harder than the creosoted ones when they have dried
out, and complaints have been received from linesmen that it is not
as easy to climb these poles with the cock's spur type of climbing
irons. However, it may not be so difficult to do this with the Continental
or Scandinavian type of climbing iron which encircles the pole. An
alternative to Tanalith C is Celcure A which is a water solution of
sodium, copper and arsenic. This is applied in a similar manner to the
Tanalith C system and gives similar characteristics.
Poles treated with water soluble salts also have a much lower
electrical-impulse level until dried, so that, for approximately the
first year, unearthed lines constructed with these poles are much more
susceptible to lightning damage.
12.4 Decay in wood poles
As the preservative process either by creosote or water—salt
solutions is based on the principle that the sapwood is treated against
decay it is only possible to discuss pole decay in a general terms. Pole
decay is due to microorganisms that may be present in the pole, one
of the major problems in attempting to preserve poles from decay is
the identification of the organism that is present in a particular type
of pole; this may be dependent upon the local soil fungi and wind-
born spores.
The known techniques for combating rot, which normally occurs
at ground level and for about 500 mm on either side, is the use of
arsenic salts to bolster up the effects of the original creosote or
water salt process used in the original preservation. There are several
types of remedial preservative process and these are as follows:
The Cobra process is a system in which a sodium fluoride arsenic
salt solution is injected into the pole at the places where the wood
destroying fungi has attacked the timber, and the method is such
that the arsenic salts kill off the fungi and should arrest any further
rot in the pole for a period of ten years. There are other processes
which use a similar form of substance, i.e. arsenic based, but instead
of injection into the sap/heart wood boundary they operate on a
bandage formation. One of these is known as Wolman and the bandages
of this type are selfsealing. Other bandage types are such that the
preservation paste is plastered on the pole and an impervious wrapping
put round it. The idea of the bandage type is that the salts permeate
into the fibres of the timber and then restrict any further growth of
the fungi over a period of time.
It is considered that the creosote type of initial preservative gives
protection throughout the pole to the heart wood but the experience
with the water types of preservative is that the weakest part of the
defence mechanism is on the surface of the poles.
It has been considered that the economics of initial preserving of
wood poles falls clearly into the creosote method and it has not yet
been proved that the water solution compounds are more economic
than creosote. With regard to subsequent reimpregnation of poles by
any of the systems, debate has been going on for some time on the
question of (a) whether subsequent treatment should be given, and
(b) whether more than one treatment should be given, additional to
1015
arguments on the effectiveness of one process as against another. The
contractors who carry out the subsequent remedial-treatment pro-
cesses offer a guarantee of satisfactory toxic impregnation of fungi
in the pole for a period of ten years. The economics of the second
treatment, i.e. after the pole has been in situ for twenty years, are
extremely debatable as the margin of gain in afinancialsense is
largely dependent upon the degree of error in the first case on the pole
inspection; and if the error errs too greatly on the conservative side the
number of poles which subsequently have to be changed will make
inroads into any saving that can be achieved by the second treatment.
Other methods of preserving poles have been suggested over the
years and such ideas as encasing the buried portion of the pole and
some distance up the pole above the ground level in expanded poly-
urethane has been put forward. It is, however, thought that this and
similar treatments of encasement are not the best methods of com-
bating the rot disease that are available, as any tendency to trap water
between the timber and any outside material usually relates to a fast
run up of the rot.
13 Concrete poles
Concrete poles extensively used on the continent of Europe
and in areas of the world where termites are a problem have only been
used to a small extent in the UK during periods when timber was
scarce, such as the immediate postwar years; an example of a concrete
pole used on the 11 kV system is shown in Fig. 15. The recent rapid
escalation of wood-pole prices has renewed interest in concrete poles
as being a possible alternative but when world commerce has stabilised
we may return to the situation where wood-pole suppliers in the UK,
being long established and decapitalised, can maintain their price
advantage over any new concrete-fabricating enterprise. The reverse
situation applies in countries such as France.
Fig. 15
11 kV single-phase light construction utilising concrete structures
There are three types of poles specified in the British Standard for
concrete poles — for electrical transmission and traction systems
BS607 Pt. 2: 1970. There are 'reinforced concrete poles,' 'prestressed
concrete poles,' and 'prestressed concrete poles exposed to impact',
the latter two types being the most preferred. Disregarding the price
differences (as delivered) in a comparison of wood/concrete structures,
concrete has the advantage that once erected it is free from deterio-
ration and a useful 'life' of 100 years plus can be anticipated as com-
pared to the average 40 years for wood poles. The principal disadvan-
tages are the greater weight and fragility which greatly increase the
transport, handling and erection costs, the fact that 'unearthed
construction' which has been proved so successful cannot be adopted
and the lack of flexibility in the use of individual structures. This
latter point arises from the fact that a universal pole, with a multi-
tude of fixing-holes, varying lengths and strengths, cannot be
fabricated leading to large stocks of various types having to be held.
Their use as l.v. and m.v. supports may seem attractive but during
the life of a line these supports often require modification to carry
additional fittings in the way of services, cables and street lighting
fittings which necessitates the supply of a great variety of galvanised
steel brackets and fittings or may involve a complete structure change.
Their use on h.v. lines of 33 kV and above not subject to these
alterations may be more attractive, if the additional weight and
construction difficulties previously mentioned are acceptable.
The use of concrete poles on the Continent is enhanced by the
practice of routing lines along the sides of roadways to a great extent,
1016
as against the British practice of directing lines across fields. The
difficulty of transporting the heavy concrete poles across agricultural
land, experienced in this country, does not occur on the Continent
as it is not necessary for the vehicle to leave the roadway.
14 Lightning protection
The largest single cause of faults on overhead lines is due to
lightning. One philosophy in construction has changed over the last
decade or so, on 11 kV lines from the fully earthed construction, i.e.
with the steelwork of every pole earthed, to unearthed systems where
only the steelwork of poles where apparatus is erected is earthed and
bonded to the apparatus. The term unearthed construction is rather
a misnomer in the present day situation where there are numerous
transformers tapping and liberal use of line isolators. With the fully
earthed construction in addition to the individual pole earthing a
continuous earth wire ran between each pole. This system was aban-
doned as its efficiency was not as great as the unearthed system in
that lightning strikes proved to be persistent in causing permanent
damage, i.e. the damage was such that the circuits had to be repaired
before they could be restored to service.
With the unearthed construction it has become clear that a large
number of the strikes do not cause permanent damage and are
transient in nature. Having arrived at this situation it was necessary
to use the benefit of this knowledge. In .1949 a productivity team
from the supply industry visited the USA and discussed their methods
of controlling lightning outages. The outcome of the visit was the
importing into Great Britain of an autoreclosing circuit breaker
suitable for pole mounting. The method of operation was that the
circuit breaker would open on the passage of the fault current brought
about by the lightning strikes after opening there was a time delay
and then the mechanism would reclose. If the passage of the fault
current had not caused any damage the circuit breaker would remain
closed and the supply be restored. If fault current flowed again when
the circuit breaker was closed it would again reopen, the sequence
would again be repeated and if the unit opened again it would then
lock out in the open position. The general sequence was break/make
break/make, break/make, break and lock out. The recloser was con-
structed in single-phase units, was operated on phase current only
and it had no earth leakage feature.
Subsequently, after successful introduction of the single-phase units
manufactured in this country by BTH co., it was decided to
develop a 3-phase unit complete with earth-fault detection and this
was developed and marketed by A. Reyrolle & Co, an illustration is
shown in Fig. 16. The unit produced has proved successful and
popular, it has the feature that multiple operations can be set up
before lock out and that if successful reclosures are obtained the
number of reclosures are almost infinite.
Fig. 16
High-speed autorecloser fitted with 'live-line tapping' connections
Consequently, with the development of the pole-mounted recloser,
ground-mounted switchgears at substations were also modified to
operate on the same system. In the early days of development the use
of fuses for the final protection of transformers was still continued,
but this proved unsatisfactory as the fuses also cleared during the
passage of the fault current. Some of the area boards have eliminated
the use of fuses, and others have employed fuses with an operating
characteristic slower than the reclose-cycle time. The installation of
the pole-mounted reclosers splits the network into convenient sections
and, combined with the use of earth-leakage indicators, can considerably
PROC. IEE, Vol. 122, No. 10R, OCTOBER 1975, IEEREVIEWS
reduce the restoration time after a 'fault to lock out.' The installation
restriction on an autorecloser is its fault-breaking capacity, which is
limited to 100 MVA.. The cost of an autorecloser is in the order of
£500, but when it is considered that the majority of the overhead-line
faults are of a transient nature, that the only interruption to the
consumer is a momentary flick on the lights and that it is not usually
necessary to call out staff to replace fuses and operate the network
it is certainly an economical proposition.
One drawback to the autoreclosing system is that on multioperations
bad connections on the line, such as mechanical connectors on bows
and jumpers, are liable to burn out, this problem can be satisfactorily
overcome by the use of compression fittings.
15 Future developments in overhead tines
The future developments in overhead lines will be dependent
on the rate of growth of the electricity demand in rural areas and the
availability of materials.
First, the rural electrification programme has been completed
during the last five years and requirements for overhead lines will be
for reinforcement and short extensions; this means the overhead-line
work will largely be confined to the carrying out of maintenance.
This could mean a change in philosophy in training labour, the design
of tools and equipment and the design of maintenance programmes.
The maintenance programme should be designed to keep the lines
up to a high standard with the minimum number of visits and this
can be achieved by a unified programme of inspection and maintenance.
The combined use of hot-stick and live-line techniques should be
developed to carry out as much maintenance as possible under 'live'
conditions to reduce engineers' time on switching and safety pro-
cedures, and reduce the number of planned outages.
Fittings and components should be designed to be fitted, main-
tained or replaced under 'live' conditions and progressively installed
on the system. Training of linesmen has in the past been mainly
concerned with construction work and little has been said of the
maintenance aspect, the emphasis should be changed for the future.
The question of materials used will largely depend on the availability
of raw materials and manufacturing resources. At the time of writing
the manufacture of glass insulators is restricted to one manufacturer,
and there are no manufacturing resources in the UK. Porcelain
insulators manufacture has undergone an extensive rationalisation
and in the foreseeable future could be reduced to only one or two
manufacturers in the UK.
Wood poles, the availability of which has been greatly affected by
the Japanese timber purchases in North America which extends for
the next five years, has had the effect of restricting the available
supplies to the UK and Europe from Scandinavian countries, with
PROC. IEE, Vol. 122, No. 10R, OCTOBER 1975, IEE REVIEWS
dramatic price increases. Steel supplies for pole-top steelwork and
stay wire are in short supply, as is p.v.c. for covering conductors.
These shortages will encourage the search for alternative methods and
materials which will lead to new forms of construction that, in general,
will be as economical as the more conventional design.
The change in construction specifications to more relaxed standards
will have the effect of holding down costs against the general rise of
prices. As mentioned earlier, maintenance and inspection must be
co-ordinated, so must improved reliability of components not-
withstanding relaxed construction standards. The improved reliability
that is required should be based on a better quality control in manu-
facture and construction. A simple example is the protective finish of
metals where adequate coatings should be applied under satisfactory
conditions and should be handled correctly in the field to ensure that
the life span is adequate.
Table 3
OVERHEAD-LINE COSTS AS A PERCENTAGE OF EQUIVALENT
UNDERGROUND-CABLE INSTALLATION
Voltage m.v. l l k V 33 kV 132kV 275 kV 400 kV
Relative costs of
overhead line to 86% 53% 23% 10% 7-2% 8-4%
underground cable
One of the great problems of overhead-line networks in the next
decade is the obtaining of wayleaves. The landowning public and the
planning authorities are presently contesting the construction of
overhead lines, especially in the vicinity of major distribution points,
and the industry may be forced to abandon the economics of the
overhead-line system by laying cable networks or by paying higher
prices for wayleaves. Table 3 shows the relative current costs of
overhead/underground cable distribution and transmission systems.
16 References
1 Electricity (Supply) Acts, 1882-1936
2 Electricity Commissioners Regulation ELC53,1928
3 BS1320: 1946. 'High voltage overhead lines on wood poles for live voltages
up to and including 11 kV with conductors not exceeding 0^05 in 1 '
4 BEBS L I : 1962. 'British electricity boards specification for medium and
low voltage overhead lines on wood poles'
5 Electricity (Overhead Lines) Regulations 1970, statutory instrument, 1355,
1970
6 Electricity Commissioners Regulation ELC 39, 1924
7 PERRY, A.: 'Historical review of development of overhead lines (33 kV and
below)', 1969, Merseyside & N. Wales Electricity Board
8 Overhead Line Regulations 36(Z>), 1947
9 BS913: 1954. 'Pressure creosoting of timber'
10 BS144: 1954. 'Coal tar creosote for the preservation of timber'
11 MCCOMBE, J., and HA1GH, F.R.: 'Overhead-line practice' (Macdonald &
Co Ltd, 1966) pp. 8 3 - 1 0 0 and pp. 196-199
1017