SHOCKINGOLD SAGGING HYDRO TRANSMISSION LINES
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 10:40 pm
SHOCKINGOLD SAGGING HYDRO TRANSMISSION LINES
Last week my wife and I motored and sailed through the Rideau Canal from downtown Ottawa to Kingston Ontario. It was a great trip through an historic waterway, although the heat and humidity were stifling at times. As we went under hydro transmission lines my wife who was at the wheel felt a shock. As our mast was stepped to a height of 18 feet (see mod for mast support extender) we felt we had sufficient distance from the chart heights of the hydro lines but because of the metal mast I think there was an induced current from the electromagnetic field around the wires made worse from the sagging and by the high relative humidity in the air. (Kirchoffs laws ? from 1st year physics, maybe). This, I hypothesize, was made more dangerous by the extra sagging caused by the age of the wires and the expansion caused by the intense heat. The lockmasters had never heard of this and could not verify the chart heights of the wires. I have included a local news article from 2004 in which one of the sailors Cathy Melnychuck, who I had worked with when teaching, died from her burns a month after she was electrocuted while sailing. For those of you who must sail or motor near power lines this could be an issue especially during hot, humid weather.
Cruise Lines
Sailors Shocked On Gatineau CruiseAug 06, 2004
Hydro-Quebec blames a sagging power line for an accident that sent three women sailors to hospital with burns earlier this week. The power company admitted on Wednesday that the line, which carries 120,000 volts of electricity, had dropped below the standard 12-metre height. "The manager told me he's been in his office since 14 years and he's never seen that," said Pierre Dupuis, a Hydro-Quebec spokesperson.Muriel How, who owns the 21-foot sailboat the three were using for their cruise on Monday, was knocked unconscious in the accident while Cathy Melnychuck suffered second-degree burns. Annette Brand was also burned. How and Brand are in their 70s. Melnychuck is 50. "I remember nothing," How said on Wednesday. "We were talking and then the next thing I remember, I was in the ambulance." Witnesses said they saw a flash, heard a bang and then the boat was on fire. How said she had sailed in the area for years, and under the power lines in her Matilda sailboat many times. But Monday was different. Officials said they aren't sure whether the boat's 7.2-metre mast actually touched the power line or if it just got close enough for the 120,000 volts in the line to arc.
I'll be off sailing on Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands for the next week or twp hoping to avoid lightning and transmission lines.
Mike Purdy
Jedaro
.
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Last week my wife and I motored and sailed through the Rideau Canal from downtown Ottawa to Kingston Ontario. It was a great trip through an historic waterway, although the heat and humidity were stifling at times. As we went under hydro transmission lines my wife who was at the wheel felt a shock. As our mast was stepped to a height of 18 feet (see mod for mast support extender) we felt we had sufficient distance from the chart heights of the hydro lines but because of the metal mast I think there was an induced current from the electromagnetic field around the wires made worse from the sagging and by the high relative humidity in the air. (Kirchoffs laws ? from 1st year physics, maybe). This, I hypothesize, was made more dangerous by the extra sagging caused by the age of the wires and the expansion caused by the intense heat. The lockmasters had never heard of this and could not verify the chart heights of the wires. I have included a local news article from 2004 in which one of the sailors Cathy Melnychuck, who I had worked with when teaching, died from her burns a month after she was electrocuted while sailing. For those of you who must sail or motor near power lines this could be an issue especially during hot, humid weather.
Cruise Lines
Sailors Shocked On Gatineau CruiseAug 06, 2004
Hydro-Quebec blames a sagging power line for an accident that sent three women sailors to hospital with burns earlier this week. The power company admitted on Wednesday that the line, which carries 120,000 volts of electricity, had dropped below the standard 12-metre height. "The manager told me he's been in his office since 14 years and he's never seen that," said Pierre Dupuis, a Hydro-Quebec spokesperson.Muriel How, who owns the 21-foot sailboat the three were using for their cruise on Monday, was knocked unconscious in the accident while Cathy Melnychuck suffered second-degree burns. Annette Brand was also burned. How and Brand are in their 70s. Melnychuck is 50. "I remember nothing," How said on Wednesday. "We were talking and then the next thing I remember, I was in the ambulance." Witnesses said they saw a flash, heard a bang and then the boat was on fire. How said she had sailed in the area for years, and under the power lines in her Matilda sailboat many times. But Monday was different. Officials said they aren't sure whether the boat's 7.2-metre mast actually touched the power line or if it just got close enough for the 120,000 volts in the line to arc.
I'll be off sailing on Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands for the next week or twp hoping to avoid lightning and transmission lines.
Mike Purdy
Jedaro
.
[img]
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